A leader of a transport group expressed gratitude to President Marcos for ordering the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to review the proposal to increase the insurance claims for private vehicles.

Boy Vargas, president of the Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (Altodap), said all the advocates of the fair insurance system were elated since it was the first time that a sitting president of the country listened and acted on a major concern that they have long raised.

“Nagagalak po kami dahil for the first time ay may isang Pangulo ng ating bansa na pinakinggan ang matagal na naming ipinaglalaban. Maraming salamat po sa ating Pangulong BBM sa inyong tunay na malasakit sa ating mga kababayan, lalo na yung mga maliliit na tao na tulad namin, (We are elated because this is the first time that a sitting president acted on what we have been fighting for. We thank the President for his genuine concern to the people)” said Vargas.

It was the Altodap that appealed to Marcos to correct the insurance system in the country, an appeal that was responded to by the Chief Executive by ordering DOTr Secretary Vince Dizon to look into ways to increase the insurance of private vehicles.

Vargas said he was not supposed to care about the insurance for private cars since he is from the public transport sector, but he explained that he and the rest of the Altodap members are witnesses to road crashes almost every day wherein passengers of private cars are not compensated properly. 

He said the Katipunan Flyover accident in Quezon City in December last year became one of the reasons why they became motivated again to fight for just insurance benefits for as many road users.

Four people died and 25 others were injured during the Katipunan Flyover accident and despite the number of casualties, only a maximum of P200,000 was released as insurance and the worst part, according to Vargas, was that it was divided among all the 29 victims as a matter of insurance policy. 

And the same happened for the SCTEX accident recently wherein only a maximum of P200,000 is assured to all the 10 dead victims while the injured bus passengers are entitled to P100,000 each. 

In pushing for the just insurance system, Vargas said the DOTr could take a look into an existing insurance system which is being used by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for public utility vehicles.

He is referring to the Passenger Personal Accident Insurance (PPAI) Program which is administered jointly by the LTFRB and the Insurance Commission wherein the maximum insurance payment is P400,000 for each fatality and P100,000 for each of the injured victims.

“Ito po yung sinasabi namin na dapat ay patas. Ang DOTr po ang bahala kung anong klaseng diskarte ang gagawin nila kasama ang Insurance Commission pero kung meron namang sistema na at maayos na gumagana, bakit maghahanap pa ng iba eh tatagal ng tatagal na naman yan sa kakaaral eh (This is the kind of insurance system that we think is fair. We leave it to the DOTr to decide on this along with the Insurance Commission but if there’s already a system that is working, then they should look at it because a new system may take time),” said Vargas.

“May Presidente tayo ngayon na gusto ng mabilis na pagbabago na nararamdaman agad namin sa baba. Sana samantalahin na natin ito na baguhin na ang sistema para sa kapakanan ng nakakarami sa lalong madaling panahon (We have a President who wants to implement changes and reforms that are immediately felt on the ground. This should be taken advantage of, and this should be done in the soonest possible time) ,” he added.