A neophyte solon expressed concern over the alarming increase in the numbers or cases of vehicular accidents or mishaps.

This is the reason why AGRI Party-list Rep. Wilbert T. Lee stressed the need to increase Compulsory Third Party Liability Insurance (CTPLI) for commercial vehicles and total indemnity claims for the death or injury of passengers, third parties, or pedestrians without the necessity of proving fault or negligence.

Lee said “the news can inform us about these road tragedies, but they do not show how much families suffer because of these accidental deaths.”

The lawmaker was referring to the death of a motorcycle rider who was decapitated after being hit by a truck along EDSA on Wednesday morning.

The following day, a truck driver died and three other people were injured when his truck collided with a passenger bus along the highway in Balaoan, La Union. That same day, in Quezon, a driver of a trailer truck loaded with two backhoes died when his vehicle fell into a ravine in the municipality of General Nakar.

“Ang masakit dito, nawalan ang mga pamilyang ito ng mga mahal sa buhay, tapos malalaman nila na P100,000 lang ang pwede nilang i-claim sa CTPLI at P15,000 sa no fault indemnity,” Lee lamented.

He filed House Bill No. 8498, which seeks to increase the CTPLI from P100,000 to P6,700,000.00 to cover the death or bodily injury incurred per accident.

“Kung breadwinner ang namatay sa aksidente, hindi po kayang tustusan ng mga halagang ito ang pangangailangan ng pamilyang naulila,” he said

The HB 8498 likewise seeks to increase the amount of insurance claim for death or injury per accident to any passenger, third party or pedestrian without the necessity of proving fault or negligence from P15,000.00 to at least P1 million for any four or more commercial motor vehicle designed to transport goods/cargoes and/or persons, with gross vehicle weight (GVW) of up to 4,500 kgs; or P2 million for any four or more wheeled commercial motor vehicle designed to transport goods/cargoes and/or persons, with GVW of more than 4,500 kgs.

Lee pointed out that “there is a difference in the amount of insurance claim because the likelihood of an accident increases with the commercial motor vehicle size.”

CTPLI covers costs paid when a vehicle owner negligently causes bodily injury or death to a third party or passenger in an accident resulting from the usage of the insured motor vehicle.

Aside from increasing the amount of insurance claims for CTPLI and no fault indemnity, HB 8498 also amends the definition of “passenger” in the Insurance Code to include those who had not yet purchased or have boarded the motor or motor vehicle and non-paying persons who are expressly authorized by law or by the vehicle’s operator or his agents to ride without fare.

The measure also adds pedestrians — persons traveling by foot and mobility-impaired persons using wheelchairs on or near a roadway — to those who can claim insurance.