The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will conduct a safety audit on a road near the ravine in Hamtic, Antique where a bus fell into, killing 18 passengers.

In an interview with dzBB, Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan said: “I have already ordered people in the field,including those in the central office, to conduct another safety audit on that section to see additional safety measures that we can implement immediately, we'll do it.”

Bonoan attributed the bus accident which happened on Tuesday to the vehicle not being roadworthy.

“No matter how good your road, if your vehicle is not roadworthy, you'll just end up with incidents like these,” he said.

He insisted that the road was safe since it has “been continuously improved”.

“That road is a primary national road that connects Iloilo and Antique and that has been there for the longest time and it has been continuously improved,” he said.

“That section has been widened. Before, that only had two lanes, now it has four. Plus, we also added shoulders…On the ravine side, the DPWH placed concrete barriers there. We also have signages that tell drivers to reduce their speed. The speed limit is 30 kilometers. It says on the signages ‘slow down, accident prone area,’ and ‘slow down, sharp curve ahead.’ “

Antique Governor Rhodora Cadiao, in a separate interview, said they are pushing for the eventual abandonment of the road since it has a history of vehicles falling into the ravine since the 1960s. Jaspearl Tan/DMS