Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES’ .
Constitution Hills, Quezon Ci

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS \
First Regular Session

1914
House Bill No.

Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE ERIC L. OLIVAREZ

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Majority of Filipino are commuters. Being a developing
country, most of the people do not own private cars. The
people heavily rely on public transportation to go from one
place to another and do their jobs and duties for the day. One
kind of public utility that offers ride to the public is the buses.
Buses usually traverse major thoroughfares and follow a
rather long route. Buses in Metro Manila for example travel
from the north in Monumento down to the southern areas of
Pasay City or Paranaque City. There are also provincial buses
which take more time and have more distant destinations. The
numerous bus lines or bus companies now existing and
operating nationwide just prove how buses have become an
integral part of the lives of the Filipino commuters.


Lately however, there have been a lot of traffic related
crimes and buses are no exception to the ill motives of the
perpetrators. Buses easily fall prey to hold-up incidents
wherein a group or armed men board random buses and then
hi-jack the same. They take all the precious and valuable
belongings of all the passengers on the bus as well as the
money/ bus fares collected by the driver/ bus conductor for
the day. To make things worse, such situation may even
escalate to a violent one wherein passengers are harmed,
injured and even killed as an incident of the act of robbery.

These victimized bus passengers and the bus employees
themselves are rendered completely helpless and powerless
once a crime has been indiscriminately committed against
them. As it is the modus operandi of the robbers to force
everyone inside the bus to bring the bus curtains down, no
one from the outside could tell that a robbery or hold-up is in
fact already happening on the bus. No one is there to rescue or
help out the victims. Consequently, the safety of every
passenger’s life, liberty and/or property is completely
jeopardized and the said wrongdoers sometimes get away with
their crime and worst, do not get successfully prosecuted
because of lack of witnesses.

In light of the recent proliferation of bus-related crimes,
there is clearly an impelling need for State intervention to
ensure that the commuters are provided adequate protection
from harm of their life and property.

The role of the State in protecting the life, liberty and
property of the Filipino commuters, becomes vital in this
respect. There is a need for an immediate solution to this
serious problem that would effectively deter potential crime


perpetrators from holding up and/or robbing the helpless
passengers of public utility busses.

The mandatory installation of a closed-circuit television
(CCTV) or a security (video) camera in every public utility bus
in the country will allow the bus operators to detect real-time
whether or not a bus is being held-up. This will allow the bus
operators to timely alert the law enforcement authorities that a
crime is currently happening inside a certain bus in a certain
place. This will give the police a better window of opportunity
to prevent the crime and/or apprehend the criminals. The
probability of timely catching the criminals will surely
increase. Moreover, knowing that their movement can be
traced through the security cameras, the potential criminals
will be effectively deterred from victimizing passengers thereof
for even if the police don’t make it on the scene on time, the
faces of the criminals have already been recorded and this will
facilitate post-crime investigations better. Apprehending the
accountable persons in a bus-related crimes has always been
difficult, if not nearly impossible, because of the lack of leads.
Through the approval of this bill, such limitation will be
downright addressed.

Undeniably, the mandatory installation of CCTV or
security camera in every bus operated for public utility would
be beneficial to all the parties involved — the owners/operators
who can maintain goodwill and reputation by promising the
public good and safe transportation services; the innocent
drivers and bus conductors who may also be victimized at
times; and more importantly, the riding public who, aside from
having to deal with the little inconveniences entailed by
commuting, expose themselves to great risk upon doing so


because they have no choice and they need the said
transportation.

It is for this reason that the approval of this Bill is being
sought.

enw «OW,
ERIC L. OLIVAREZ


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. 1914

Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE ERIC L. OLIVAREZ

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE MANDATORY
INSTALLATION OF CLOSED-CIRCUIT TELEVISION OR
SURVEILLANCE (SECURITY) CAMERA IN EVERY BUS

BEING OPERATED FOR PUBLIC UTILITY IN THE
COUNTRY.

SECTION 1. Name. This Act shall be known as the
“Mandatory Bus Surveillance Act”.

SECTION 2. Definition of Terms.

Security Camera; Surveillance Camera
Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) - the use of
video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific
place, on a limited set of monitors. A security
camera as contemplated or used in this Act, is
understood as a video camera that records the
activities happening inside a bus in order to
detect and prevent crime and other related


situations. The terms shall be used in
interchangeably in this Act.

Bus - a large motor vehicle carrying
passengers by road, esp. one serving the
public on a fixed route and for a fare. For
purposes of this act, the term ‘bus’ shall
pertain only to public utility buses.

Public Utility Owners/Operators — for
purposes of this Act, it shall mean owners or
operators of at least one bus offering
transportation services to the public at large.

SECTION 3. Mandatory Installation of CCTV or
Surveillance Camera. All bus owners/operators, whether under
an existing franchise or upon application of a new one, are
hereby required to install a CCTV or surveillance camera in
every bus unit he/she presently owns/operates or will
own /operate in the future.

SECTION 4. Allowance of Time for Owners/Operators
with Subsisting Franchise. Owners/Operators of public utility
buses under an existing franchise are given three (3) months
from the promulgation of this Act to comply with the
requirement of installing CCTV or security cameras in the
buses that they operate.

SECTION 5. Monitoring. The Land Transportation
Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) shall conduct
regular ocular inspections after the lapse of three (3) months
from the promulgation of this Act to ensure that all licensed


bus owners/operators have complied with the requirements of
this Act.

SECTION 6. Requirement for Application of a New
Franchise. Application for a franchise to operate a bus line or
business by a person or persons who wish to own/operate
buses as public utility vehicles, shall not be granted until and
unless the owner or operator, upon the inspection and
assessment of the LTFRB is ready and/or equipped to install a
CCTV or security camera devise for every bus it owns/ will
operate.

SECTION 7. Applicants to Obtain Certification from
LTFRB. Applicants of a new franchise shall obtain a
certification from Land Transportation Franchising and
Regulatory Board stating that each of its buses is equipped
with a surveillance camera, and the said certification shall be
attached or incorporated to the other pertinent documents
necessary for the application process of a franchise to operate
a bus line or business.

SECTION 8. Pending Applications for Franchise.
Applications for franchise already filed before the Land
Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board but pending
approval thereof upon the promulgation of this Act shall be
deferred until and unless applicants comply with the
additional requirement as provided under this Act and thereby
acquire and/or equip their business with necessary security
cameras. An additional requirement of obtaining Certification
from the LTFRB as stated in Section 7 hereof shall be
submitted by the applicants whose franchise applications are
pending. Only upon the attainment and submission of the said
certification, along with compliance with other requirements


as required by existing laws, shall the application be finally
granted or approved.

SECTION 9. Twenty Four Hour Surveillance by the Bus
Operator. It shall be the duty of every bus company or operator
to assign or delegate personnel that will monitor the video
feeds of the CCTV or security cameras of its buses real-time,
twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. This is to ensure
that the bus company can timely alert authorities of an on-
going crime so that the latter can act immediately and prevent
the furtherance of the said crime.

SECTION 10. Unannounced Inspections. Authorized
personnel of the Land Transportation Franchising and
Regulatory Board (LTFRB) shall conduct unannounced or
surprised inspections of any public utility bus whether in
transit or parked in the terminal to ensure compliance with
this Act.

SECTION 11. Violation of this Act. Violation of any of the
provisions of this Act shall be meted with a revocation of
license/franchise to operate a bus line or business and fines
in the amount of not more than Fifty Thousand Pesos
(P50,000.00) to be imposed by the LTFRB and/or
imprisonment for not more than one year to be imposed by a
court of competent jurisdiction against the operator or
proprietor of the business, or against the members of the
Board of Directors if the operator of the bus company is a
corporation.

SECTION 12. Implementing Rules and Regulations. The
Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) in
coordination with the LTFRB shall promulgate the


Implementing Rules and Regulations to carry out the
provisions of this Act. Such rules and regulations shall take
effect upon their publication in three (3) newspapers of general
circulation.

SECTION 13. Repealing Clause. - All laws, presidential
decrees, letters of instructions, executive orders, rules and
regulations insofar as they are inconsistent with this Act, are
hereby repealed or amended as the case may be.

SECTION 14. Separability Clause. - In the event that any
provision of this Act or any portion thereof is declared
unconstitutional by a competent court, the other provisions
shall not be affected thereby and shall remain valid and
enforceable.

SECTION 15. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take
effect after its complete publication in at least three (3)
newspapers of general circulation.

APPROVED.