Even as a bus plunged Tuesday into a ravine, killing 17 people, the government yesterday outlined a plan that it said would cut nationwide road accident deaths by 35 percent by the end of the Marcos administration in 2028.

Among the near dozen and a half killed was a Kenyan national after the passenger bus careened off a road on a "killer curve" and plunged down a mountainside, officials said.

The bus was traveling in Hamtic in Antique province when the crash occurred in the afternoon of 5 December, provincial disaster agency head Roderick Train said.

"I call that place 'killer curve'… it was the second Ceres bus to fall from there," Governor Rhodora Cadiao told a local radio station.

"With the many deaths, that road must be abandoned… and another road (must be constructed) to make that area safe," she said, referring to the heavily forested ravine 30 meters deep.

Seven people, including another Kenyan national, were in critical condition while four others were stable in a hospital, said Train, who described the section of the road as "accident prone."

Safety education

Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation on Wednesday laid down its plans for safer Philippine roads.

Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista said during the Asia Pacific Road Safety Observatory 2023 annual meeting at the Asian Development Bank headquarters that the government will invest heavily in road safety education to achieve its targets.

"Included in the plan is the goal of reducing road accident deaths in the country by at least 35 percent by the year 2028. One strategy is road safety education," Bautista said.

"Our holistic and long-term focus targets drivers, pedestrians, vehicles, and roads. What remains is to sustain the implementation of these strategies," he added.

Other undertakings