Lade Kabagani

A national coalition convened by the Department of Transportation and supported by the United Nations Children's Fund in the Philippines on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding to protect Filipino children from road injury.

In a media interview,  DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista said the newly signed MoU is aligned with the government's  Philippine Road Safety Action Plan 2023-28 or PRSAP vision.

This came after the World Health Organization reported that road crashes are logged as the top killer of children and youth worldwide, with more than half of the fatalities being pedestrians and motorcyclists.

Meanwhile, the 2019 data on the age distribution of all-cause mortality, and road traffic injury remains the leading cause of death for children and young people aged 5 to 29 years.

According to the Global Status Report on Road Safety 2023, road traffic is the 12th leading cause of death when all ages are considered.

Dr. Rui Paulo de Jesus, WHO Representative to  the Philippines, said toad safety is a multi-sectoral concern, hence, "There's a need to continue to work together to keep our roads safe."

"The tragic tally of road crash deaths is heading in the right direction, downwards, but nowhere near fast enough," he added.

Bautista, for his part, said the Philippines' PRSAP intends to locally address the worldwide issue of road incidents.

"To address road safety, we have developed the PRSAP. This plan, together with the WHO global report on road safety, will guide us in implementing and monitoring efforts to reduce road traffic deaths and serious injuries in the Philippines," the transport chief underscored.

The MoU—signed by the DOTr, Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of Public Works and Highways, Council for the Welfare of Children, and the Metro Manila Development Authority—formalizes the National Coalition for Child Road Traffic Injury Prevention or NC-CRTIP. 

Lawyer Sophia San Luis, executive director of the law group ImagineLaw, cited the Philippine Statistics Authority data which showed that at least 1,670 Filipino children die due to road crashes every year.

Thus, she noted that the creation of the coalition imposed full support for the protection of children from road crashes

."Political will is needed to address children's death because of road crashes –  from proper education and awareness among stakeholders to better infrastructure and improved road systems that protect vulnerable road users. Ang kalsadang ligtas sa bata ay ligtas sa lahat," San Luis added. 

The NC-CRTIP  is an inter-agency and multisectoral coalition that will strengthen collaboration among agencies and road safety stakeholders in protecting children from road crashes.

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said no one should die or be seriously injured because of passing the roads.

"Every life is precious. We should continue to work together towards a Philippine society with Zero Deaths on the Road," Herbosa added.