Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. ____ 
Introduced by HON. LUIS RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR.,  
HON. MIGUEL LUIS R. VILLAFUERTE, HON. TSUYOSHI ANTHONY G. 
HORIBATA AND HON. NICOLAS ENCISO VIII 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
According to the World Health Organization's (WHO) global report on road safety 
2018 which reflects information from 175 countries, approximately 1.35 million 
people die every year as a result of road traffic accidents; more than 90 percent of 
the figure occurs in low-income countries.1 
The WHO maintains that although road traffic injuries have been a leading cause of 
mortality for many years, most traffic crashes are both predictable and preventable. 
Henceforth, the United Nations General Assembly has set an ambitious target of 
halving the global number of deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes by 2030. 
The Philippines has yet to tap its large potential to mitigate future damage and save 
lives through proper study, regulation, management, and technology development 
in transportation. According to a news report (2022)2, the United Nations Economic 
and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific’s (UNESCAP) estimated on its 
study that a total of 345 Filipinos died per day in 2020 due to transport accidents.  
At present, there is no central statistical authority in the Philippines for 
transportation-related accidents from which safety policies can be easily formulated. 
For example, land transportation accident data is available in the Philippines, but 
with limited availability and is obtainable from different sources. 
This legislation, inspired by the policy measure by Senator Grace Poe, is submitted 
to create the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to highlight safety as a 
very important aspect of transportation. The NTSB is primarily tasked to handle 
transportation safety studies that are needed for the formulation or promulgation of 
safety improvement standards for the observance and implementation by the 
concerned government agencies and/or private entities. 
1 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/road-traffic-injuries 
2 https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/01/11/amid-ncr-pandemic-curbs-road-mishaps-kill-345-people-everyday/ 
July 11, 2022
5:21 pm
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As such, approval of this measure is earnestly sought. 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
LUIS RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR.  
           MIGUEL LUIS R. VILLAFUERTE   
 
 
 
 
TSUYOSHI ANTHONY G. HORIBATA  
 
 
NICOLAS ENCISO VIII 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. ____ 
Introduced by HON. LUIS RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR.,  
HON. MIGUEL LUIS R. VILLAFUERTE, HON. TSUYOSHI ANTHONY G. 
HORIBATA AND HON. NICOLAS ENCISO VIII 
AN ACT 
PROMOTING COST-EFFECTIVE MEASURES FOR THE TRANSPORT 
SECTOR AND COMMUTING PUBLIC, PROVIDING FOR THE CREATION OF A 
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD, PRESCRIBING ITS 
POWERS AND FUNCTIONS, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines 
in Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the “National Transportation 
Safety Advisory Council”. 
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is hereby declared the policy of the State 
to promote safety in the transportation of people and goods through cast effective 
measures that either prevent: remedy or mitigate accidents involving any mode of 
transport, including pipelines and conveyors. Towards this end, the Government 
shall: 
(a) Support safety programs based on continuing and objective reviews of
causes or reasons for unsafe acts and conditions; and
(b) Appraise and assess operating practices and regulations of government
agencies involved in the transportation sector, insofar as they affect safety,
and where appropriate, shall initiate, coordinate, formulate or promulgate
safety improvement standards for the observance and implementation by
the concerned government agencies and/or private entities.
SECTION 3. Creation of the National Transportation Safety Board. — Pursuant 
to the foregoing policy, there is hereby created a National Transportation Safety 
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Board, hereinafter referred to as the "Board", which shall be attached to the 
Department of Transportation. 
 
SECTION 4. Composition and Organization. — 
(a) The Board shall be composed of seven (7) full-time Members, headed by a 
Chairman. who shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines. A 
Member of the Board must be a natural-born citizen at the time of his/her 
appointment, and must have at least three (3) years of actual experience in 
the administration, operation and management of a transport utility firm or 
regulatory agency in either air, land, sea or rail transportation and 
knowledgeable 
in 
accident 
reconstruction, 
safety 
engineering 
or 
transportation and traffic safety: Provided, That three (3) of the full-time 
members must come from the commuting public, include ng a 
representative from organizations advocating for road safety. 
(b) The Chairman shall have a term of five (5) years but may be renewed for a 
non-extendible period of one (1) year: Provided, That the term of the initial 
appointees shall be staggered such that the Chairman shall hold office for 
a term of five (5) years, the next three (3) members for three (3) years and 
the other three (3) members for two (2) years 
(c) Upon the expiration of their respective terms, they shall continue to serve 
until their successor shall have been appointed and qualified. In case a 
member fails to complete his term, his successor shall only serve the 
unexpired portion of the term of his predecessor. 
(d) A member may be removed from office by the President for cause in 
accordance with the Civil Service rules and regulations. 
(e) The Chairman shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the Board. He shall 
exercise all the powers and discharge all functions of the Board. He shall 
have control over all personnel employed by the Board, including, the 
following: 
1. The appointment and supervision of personnel employed by the Board; 
2. The distribution of business among such personnel and among 
administrative units of the Board; and 
3. The use and expenditure of its funds. 
(f) The Board shall establish and maintain distinct appropriately staffed 
bureaus, divisions, or offices, to investigate and report on accidents 
involving each of the following modes of transportation: 


1. Aviation; 
2. Highway and motor vehicle; 
3. Pipeline, railroad, and tracked vehicle; and 
4. Marine transport carriers. 
 
(g) The Board shall, in addition, establish and maintain such capabilities as 
may be needed to investigate and report on the safe transportation of 
hazardous and toxic materials 
 
SECTION 5. The Executive Director. — 
(a) The Board shall have an Executive Director who shall be appointed by the 
Chairman, 
(b) No person shall be appointed Executive Director unless he is at least thirty-
five (35) years of age at the time of his/her appointment, a Member of the 
Philippine Bar Association, and has practiced his/her profession for at least 
ten (10) years prior to the date of his/her appointment. He/she must not 
have been a candidate for any elective position in the elections immediately 
preceding his/her appointment. 
(c) The Executive Director shall: 
1. Be responsible for running the day-to-day operations of the Board; 
2. Act as the custodian of the records, maps, profiles, reports, and other 
documents and papers filed in connection with any case or proceedings 
before the Board; 
3. Be responsible for the effective implementation of the policies, rules, and 
directives promulgated by the Board; and 
4. Coordinate and supervise the activities of the different operating units of 
the Board and shall perform such other functions as may be assigned to 
him/her by the Chairman and/or the Board. 
 
SECTION 6. Compensation. — The Chairman and the Members of the Board shall 
have the rank of a Department Undersecretary and Assistant Secretary, 
respectively. They shall receive the compensation and other emoluments 
corresponding to those of a Department Undersecretary and Assistant Secretary, 
respectively. 


(a) The Executive Director shall have the rank of Assistant Secretary and shall 
be entitled to compensation and other emoluments corresponding to those 
Of an Assistant Secretary. 
(b) The Chairman, the Members of the Board, and the Executive Director shall 
be entitled to commutable representation and transportation allowances per 
month in the amount not exceeding the monthly salary of the lowest-paid 
regular employee of the Board. 
(c) The Board shall determine the schedule of salaries of the employees 
subject to the compliance with the existing compensation law. Provided; 
That the Board shall determine and fix the compensation and fringe benefits 
of employees holding technical positions that are not common to the 
agencies of the government which shall be specified in the implementing 
Rules and Regulations. 
 
SECTION 7. Duties and Powers of the Board. — The Board shall: 
(a) Initiate and conduct studies on matters pertaining to safety in transportation 
and avoiding injury to persons and damage to property; 
(b) Gather, analyze, maintain, and publish from time to time data and statistics 
on transportation accidents; 
(c) Prescribe requirements for persons and institutions regarding data 
gathering, reporting, the preservation, proper handling, conservation, and 
protection of evidence, records files, and/or specimens related to any 
accident; 
(d) Issue periodic reports to Congress, the President, and make them available 
to government agencies and instrumentalities, and non-government 
organizations concerned with transportation safety upon request, including 
owners of public transportation carriers who may be concerned with the 
findings of the Board and to interested persons. Such reports shall contain 
proposals for corrective measures to make the transportation of persons as 
safe and free from the risk of injury as possible, including steps to minimize 
human injuries from transportation accidents: Provided, the said reports 
shall be made public within sixty (60) days from its submission to the 
Congress or to the president, as the case may be; 
(e) The Board may require and shall be furnished a copy of reports by the 
officials concerned on any transportation-related accident, The Board may 


order, if necessary, the autopsy, or require other tests of such persons as 
may be needed for the investigation of the accident; 
(f) The Board may call the assistance of, and use any available services, 
equipment, facilities, of the Department of Justice (DOJ) Department of 
Transportation (DOTC), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Department of 
National Defense (DND), Department of Public Works and Highways 
(DPWH), Philippine National Police (PNP), and other agencies and 
instrumentalities of the government; 
(g) The Board may enter into such contracts, leases, agreements and other 
transactions as may be necessary in the conduct of its functions and duties; 
(h) The Board may create advisory committees composed of qualified private 
citizens and government officials with whom the Board may consult in the 
implementation of its functions and duties, and to pay honoraria of these 
persons for meetings actually attended. Whenever necessary, the Board 
may likewise appoint or retain the services of recognized expense as 
consultants on the accidents under investigation. Such consultants shall be 
paid compensation as fixed by the Board: Provided, That not more than 
three (3) consultants shall be appointed for each accident being 
investigated Provided, funnel That no officer, external auditor, or legal 
counsel of any investigated: Provided, further, That no officer, external 
auditor, or legal counsel of any private company or enterprise primarily 
engaged in the transportation industry shall be eligible for appointment as 
a consultant of the Board within three (3) years from his retirement, 
resignation, or separation therefrom; 
(i) Appoint advisory committees composed of qualified private citizens and 
officials of the national government and LGUs as appropriate; 
(j) Any law to the contrary notwithstanding, accept voluntary and 
uncompensated services; 
(k) Accept donations and gifts of money and other property; 
(l) Enter into contracts with non-profit entities to carry out studies related to the 
duties and powers of the Board for its operating expenses; 
(m) 
The Chairman of the Board may determine the number of 
committees that are appropriate to maintain effective liaison with other 
departments, agencies and instrumentalities of the national government 
and LGUs, non-government organizations, and independent standard-
setting authorities that carry out programs and activities related to 


transportation safety. The Board shall designate a representative to serve 
in the committees; 
(n) The Board or any officer, or employee designated by the Chairman, may 
conduct an inquiry to obtain information related to transportation safety; and 
(o) The Board or its designated officer or employee, may require by order, a 
department, agency, or instrumentality of the national government, LGUs 
or a person, natural or juridical, which transports persons or goads, to 
submit to the Board a written report and answers to request and questions 
pursuant to the powers of the Board under thig Act. The Board shall 
prescribe the time within which the reports and the answers thereto must 
be submitted to its designated officer or employee. Copies of the report and 
the answers thereto Shall be made public within sixty (60) days from 
submission to the Board. 
 
SECTION 9. Relationship with Other Government Agencies. — 
(a) Nothing in this Act shall deprive other government agencies of performing 
their initial functions. including the investigation of accidents or making 
inquiries thereon, when those functions exist prior to the effectivity of this 
Act: Provided, That the Board, at its discretion, may require the submission 
of the records, findings, and recommendations of the investigation or 
inquiry; 
(b) The PNP or any other law enforcement agency shall continue to investigate 
and record accidents involving motor vehicles and/or pedestrians for this 
purpose, the Board shall prescribe a uniform and standard operating 
system for investigation of such accidents. which shall be mandatory on the 
part of the investigating body or person; 
(c) The Board may require the submission of the records, findings, and/or 
recommendations of previous accidents and/or investigations of such 
accidents, from any government agency. For this purpose, the agency 
concerned shall transmit to the Board, within fifteen (15) days from receipt 
thereof, said records, findings, and/or recommendations; and 
(d) [n the exercise of its powers, the Board shall take into consideration the 
provisions of any treaty entered into by the Republic of the Philippines with 
other countries relative to the investigation of accidents over which the 
Board assumed jurisdiction 
 


SECTION 10. Disclosure, Availability, and Use of Information. — 
(a) Except as provided in this section, any copy of the record, information or 
report of investigation submitted to the Board shall be made available to the 
public upon request and at reasonable cost, 
 
(b) The Board shall not make the records available for purpose other than 
accident or incident investigation, unless the appropriate authority for the 
administration of justice determines that their disclosure outweighs the 
adverse domestic and international impact, 
 
(c) The Board shall not disclose any information related to a trade secret, 
except: 
1. To another department, agency, or instrumentality of the national 
government, when requested for official use; 
2. To a committee of Congress having jurisdiction over the subject matter 
to which the investigation is related, when requested by that committee; 
3. In a judicial proceeding under a court order that preserves the 
confidentially of the information without impairing the proceeding; and 
4. To the public: Provided, that such disclosure shall be for the protection 
of public health and safety; Provided, further, that the information so 
disclosed will not be detrimental to public health and safety: Provided 
final, that the disclosure shall be made in a manner designed to protect 
and preserve its confidentiality. 
 
(d) The Board shall not publicly disclose any part of a cockpit voice recording 
or transcript of oral communications by and between flight crew Members 
and ground station related to an accident or incident Investigated by the 
Board: Provided, That the Board shall make public any part of transcript the 
Board decides is relevant to the said accident incident: 
1. When the Board holds a public hearing on the accident or incident; or 
2. When the Board makes public its findings relative to the said accident or 
incident. 
 
(e) Any law to the contrary notwithstanding the head of the concerned agency 
shall, upon order or written request by the Board provide the following 
information to the board:  


1. Any report or a confirmed positive toxicological test, verified as positive 
by the medico-legal officer of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), 
conducted on an officer or employee of the concerned agency under 
post-accident, unsafe practice, or reasonable toxicological requirements 
of the concerned with the circumstances of an accident or incident under 
the investigative jurisdiction of the Board; and 
2. Any laboratory record documenting that the test is confirmed as positive. 
 
(f) Except as provided in Section 10 (b) of this Act, the Board shall maintain 
the confidentiality of, and exempt from disclosure: 
1.  Laboratory records provided to the board shall maintain the 
confidentiality of, and be exempt from disclosure; and 
2. Medical information related to the test or a review of the test voluntarily 
provided to the Board by the tested officer or employee. 
 
(g) The Board may use a laboratory record made available to it under this Act 
to develop an evidentiary record in its investigation of an accident or 
incident if: 
1. The fitness of the tested officer or employee is at issue in the 
investigation; and 
2. The use of that record is necessary to develop the evidentiary record. 
 
SECTION 11. Appropriations. — The sum of Fifty Million Pesos (P50,000,000.00) 
is hereby appropriated out of any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise 
appropriated, for the initial organization and operations of the Board Thereafter, 
such sums, as may be necessary for the operations of the Board, shall be included 
in the annual General Appropriations Act. 
 
SECTION 12. Annual Report. — The Board shall submit to the President and 
Congress an annual report at the end of every calendar year containing, among 
others: 
(a) Statistical and analytical information of accident or incident investigations 
conducted and reviewed by the Board during the preceding year; 
(b) A survey and summary of the recommendations made by the Board to 
reduce the likelihood of the recurrence of those accidents, together with the 
observed response to each recommendation; and 


(c)The uses of, disbursement form, and receipt to the Fund created in 
accordance with this Act. 
 
SECTION 13. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — Within sixty (60) days 
from the effectivity of this Act, the Board, In consultation with the DOJ, DOTC, PCG, 
DND, DPWH, PNP, and NBI, shall promulgate the implementing Rules and 
Regulations (IRR) for the effective implementation of this Act. The IRR shall provide 
procedures geared towards streamlined processes and swift justice by observing 
timeline or deadline in rendering decisions and issuances, plain writing or easy-to 
understand instructions, and over-all improvement of the industry. 
 
SECTION 14. Separability Clause. — If, for any reason, any provisions of this Act 
are declared invalid or unconstitutional, the other part or parts thereof which are not 
affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect. 
 
SECTION 15. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, executive orders, issuances 
or rules and regulations, or portions thereof, that are inconsistent with this Act or 
any provision or provisions, thereof, are repealed or modified accordingly. 
 
SECTION 16. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
 
Approved,