DOTr’s Dizon attends wake of 8 SCTEX mishap victims

Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon on Sunday attended the wake of eight victims in the recent fatal crash along Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) that killed 10 people and injured several others at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Antipolo, Rizal.

“The Department of Transportation (DOTr) continuously mourns this devastating loss and reaffirms its commitment to pursuing justice for the victims and their loved ones,” the agency said in a social media post.

In Katrina Son’s “24 Oras Weekend” report on Sunday, the bus driver involved in the fatal crash tested negative for illegal drugs, according to the Tarlac City Police Station.

“Sisimulan namin bukas ng lahat 273 buses ng Solid North ay mag a-undergo ng strict road worthiness inspections. Lahat ng driver ng Solid North, dahil sa nangyari ngayon, ima-mandate namin ng compulsory drug test,” Dizon said. 

(Starting tomorrow, all 273 Solid North buses will undergo strict roadworthiness inspections. All of its drivers will undergo a compulsory drug test.) 

DOTr said it will also study how many hours a bus driver must travel each day.

On Thursday, 10 people, including four children, died while over 37 others were injured in a multiple-vehicle collision at the Tarlac City Toll Plaza on SCTEX.

Eight of the 10 fatalities were supposed to attend a youth camp of a religious organization in Pangasinan.

DOTr and the Philippine Coast Guard officials earlier visited the wake of a couple who were killed in the same incident, leaving their two-year-old boy an orphan.

Operations of the Pangasinan Solid North Transit Inc. have been suspended for 30 days following the fatal multiple-vehicle collision.

Representatives of the bus company have reached out to the families of the victims.

Meanwhile, the government of Tarlac and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) are helping with the hospital bills and other funeral expenses. —Mariel Celine Serquiña/RF, GMA Integrated News