By MARYA SALAMAT
On top of changing the pay system of drivers and conductors, HB 3370 wants to fix the working hours of drivers and conductors to eight hours inclusive of a one-hour rest period and ensure a two-shift system so that workers do not compromise passenger safety by exceeding working hours.
The death on Friday of Lourdes E. Simbulan, a UP journalism professor and one of the country’s outstanding journalists, has brought to the fore yet again the issue of road safety, specifically road accidents on major highways caused mostly by bus drivers. While there is no doubt that these reckless drivers should be held criminally liable for their actions, there is also the matter of their working conditions that, for all practical purposes, ensure that accidents like the one that killed Simbulan would occur.