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

SEVENTEENTH (17") CONGRESS
First Regular Session

5104

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) cameras 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,

ewe.
ERIC L. OLIVAREZ


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

SEVENTEENTH (177) CONGRESS
First Regular Session

5104

House Bill No.

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.