Duterte nominates Tugade as Chief of DOTC – Strict Traffic Rules Coming Soon

MANILA: Rodrigo Duterte – the newly elected president of the Philippines will take over the chair on the 30th June 2016 but has already taken the charge unofficially. Duterte, who has earlier worked on the designation of militantly anti crime Mayor of the Davao City, has already instructed his cabinet to use APVs instead of luxury cars. A statement was released a couple of days ago through Duterte's Executive Assistant stating that the new president believes that using mass market fleet will not only save a lot of money of the government but also help in building trust and confidence amongst the public who voted them and win. Apart from clearly conveying his message of shedding the luxury fleet of the cabinet, the new president has some strong message for the public also.

With a sudden hike in the death toll due to road accidents, the new president has asked the public to follow the speed limit of 60 kmph along EDSA. In this series, to implement the orders, Duterte has asked the traffic regulating authorities to take it seriously and fine the road-rashing drivers with a heavy penalty or punishment. An anti-drunk law was signed by the President Benigno Aquino III in May 2013 recommending a monetary penalty between PhP 20,000 to PhP 500,000 with imprisonment up to 20 years, but it was not followed strictly. The new president is taking this matter on priority basis and has asked the officials to follow the instructions, else a strict action would be taken against them also.

The 16th Filipino president is pretty serious over this issue and so he has recommended Art Tugade to take the charge as the next chief of the DOTC (Department of Transportation and Communications). Art Tugade recently left the post of chief executive officer of Clark Development Corporation (CDC) and is looking for some position in the new cabinet and there Duterte found him absolutely suitable to regulate the transportation and communications department. Tugade has a successful political history and is appreciated for his leadership qualities. In his tenure as the CEO of CDC, he collected a total revenue of PhP 1.49 billion between 2013-2015 which was just PhP 1.44 billion between 1996 to 2012. After being called the 'Revenue Generating Machine', Tugade has been found the most suitable candidate to take such a responsible post of the chief of the DOTC by Duterte but till now Tugade has not given an official nod. Undoubtedly, it is a challenge for any government to implement such regulations but with strict instructions from the new president and Tugade as the head, the Philippines may see reduced accident news in the headlines.

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