P200,000 insurance indemnification will be given to each of the family of 17 passengers who perished in the collision of a wayward truck and the Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) van they were riding in Antipas, Cotabato last week.

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board chairman Teofilo Guadiz III said the families will receive the amount directly from Passenger Accident Management and Insurance Agency (PAMI) and SCCI Management and Insurance Agency Corporation.

"Bayad po iyan. Requirement bago ka ma-registro ng LTO (Land Transportation Office) is the acquisition of a Third Party Liability & PPAI (Passenger Accident Management & Insurance)," Guadiz told the DAILY TRIBUNE, referring to requirement of insurance fees a PUV should pay before it can apply a particular route.

“We have already notified the consortium of insurance companies for passenger accident insurance,” he added.

Guadiz said representatives of the insurance firms are already in Cotabato to distribute the indemnification to kin of the victims.

"Dalawa lang po ‘yun sa buong Pilipinas [There are just two of them in the whole Philippines]… PAMI and SCCI [SCCI Management and Insurance Agency Corp.]. Sila ang ang humahawak ng passenger accident insurance (They’re the ones managing the passenger accident insurance),” the LTFRB chief said.

He added that passengers, regardless who is at fault, are “automatically indemnified a certain amount of up to P200,000.”

“It is the insurance company that automatically pays the victims regardless of who is at fault,” Guadiz said.

17 victims died when a dump truck, carrying a load gravel lost its break and collided with the PUV they were riding in Antipas, Cotabato.

The collision resulted in the utility van catching fire, leading to the death of the passengers who were engulfed in flames.

Guadiz said the van was a legitimate PUV, meaning it has a franchise as a public transport thus the victims are covered by passenger accident insurance.