Edsa busway incident gets SAICT official fired
The head of the Special Action Intelligence Committee for Transportation (SAICT) in charge of enforcing the rules on the use of the Edsa busway was removed from his post on Wednesday, a day after his enforcers flagged down on the exclusive bus lane an ambulance that was bringing a cancer patient to a hospital for a medical appointment.
In a Department of Transportation (DOTr) memorandum, acting Secretary Giovanni Lopez announced the relief of Rayson dela Torre as SAICT Special Operations Group Head on the Edsa busway pending an investigation into the incident.
Dela Torre was also ordered to explain within three days why no disciplinary action should be taken against him.
At the same time, Lopez instructed SAICT personnel assigned to the busway to undergo a reorientation on related policies to prevent a repeat of a similar incident.
Based on the memorandum of the DOTr secretary, SAICT enforcers apprehended the ambulance carrying a patient with stage 4 cancer in front of the Edsa Busway’s Santolan station on Feb. 17.
Contradiction of policy
Lopez noted that when the ambulance driver reasoned that they took the exclusive bus lane because the patient had an 6 a.m. medical appointment, Dela Torre said that only patients in a life-or-death situation were allowed to use the busway.
The DOTr secretary, however, pointed out that under the department’s policy, on-duty ambulances were among the vehicles authorized to use the exclusive bus lane.
“On this premise, your statement that only ambulances with patients in critical condition may be allowed to use the busway contradicts the existing policy which neither specifies that only extreme cases of emergencies may be allowed nor prohibits the use of ambulances in nonemergency cases. The same only states that ‘on-duty’ ambulances may be allowed,” Lopez said.
In a separate statement, the DOTr assured the patient’s family that the “necessary measures are being taken to ensure that enforcement policies will be implemented with compassion and that the people’s safety will always be the transport agency’s priority and paramount concern.”
Last week, Land Transportation Office Chair Markus Lacanilao said that they will crack down on ambulances being used as shuttle services. This came after SAICT enforcers stopped an ambulance carrying passengers at the busway’s Santolan station.
Aside from Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board-authorized passenger buses and on-duty ambulances, other vehicles that may also use the exclusive bus lane are fire trucks, marked police vehicles and those being used by government agencies involved in the Edsa Busway Project.
Other authorized users are the country’s five highest-ranking officials, namely, the President, Vice President, Senate President, House Speaker and Chief Justice.
