The seven members of the Joint Foreign Chambers in the Philippines the Safe Travel Alliance and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) expressed disappointment over the veto by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of enrolled House Bill 9030/Senate Bill 1077 that would have created the Philippine Transportation Safety Board (PTSB).
JFC said with the current setup of different agencies handling different sectors of transportation with regard to accident investigations, there are limitations on the ability of the investigating agencies to delve deeper and find forensic evidence on the real cause of the accidents or by witnesses of the accidents.
It added since most of these agencies are also tasked to regulate and/or operate the sector, there is an inherent conflict of interest in the performance of their duties as an investigating body.
The vetoed bill proposed the creation of a non-regulatory and independent agency attached to the Office of the President, to be the primary agency responsible for the conduct of impartial and science-based investigation on transportation-related accidents and incidents.
The main objectives of the PTSB are to improve transportation safety measures to help prevent transportation accidents and mitigate of dangers to human lives and property; and to upgrade transportation safety standards and create implementing rules to prevent accidents and incidents based on factual scientific findings of past accidents and/or incidents.
As an independent and impartial transport safety body following the example of various countries, the PTSB would have addressed regulatory gaps in the transport safety bureaucracy, facilitated the enhancement of transportation safety measures and standards, and coordinated all the actions of relevant public and private entities toward the common goal of ensuring transport safety.
