TRANSPORTATION Undersecretary Mark Steven Pastor declared the government’s support to protect children on roads as he opened “Oplan Balik Eskwela 2022: A Child Road Safety Law Enforcement Visibility Day” at the Ramon Magsaysay National High School in Quezon City.

With schools set to reopen in August after more than two years of virtual learning because of the pandemic, the Department of Transportation conducted simultaneous road safety checks throughout the country to ensure that important road safety laws are observed around school zones.

The DOTr conducted the activity with the Department of Education, Department of the Interior and Local Government through select local government units, Land Transportation Office through its regional and district offices and Metro Manila Development Authority, in partnership with other members of the National Coalition for Child Road Traffic Injury Prevention.

“This activity serves as a ‘test run’ of our enforcement operations when 100 percent face-to-face classes resume. MMDA wholeheartedly commits to support the National Coalition for CRTIP to keep children safe on roads,” Victor Maria Nuñez, head of the MMDA Traffic Discipline Office, said.

The agencies collaborated with local government units that have enacted or are enacting comprehensive road safety ordinances, including the cities of Quezon, Tuguegarao, Ormoc and Danao. They highlighted the critical role that local government plays in enforcing road safety laws.

In his speech, LTO Law Enforcement Service Deputy Director Roberto Valera said that enforcement of road safety laws is key to making Philippine roads safer for vulnerable road users like children.

“To deter unsafe road user behavior, we know that strong, sustained, and highly visible enforcement efforts are needed, in addition to enacting policies with road safety interventions,” he said.

Public interest law group ImagineLaw, secretariat of the National Coalition for CRTIP, cited the increasing number of road crash fatalities among children as the reason that led these enforcement agencies to work hand in hand.

“It takes a village to protect a child. Young children have physical and cognitive limitations that make them more vulnerable to road traffic injuries. It is then our role as adults to protect children through effective enforcement of existing road safety laws,” Natasha Daphne Marcelo, Road Safety Project Manager of ImagineLaw, said.