Western Visayas road safety plan targets zero crash deaths by 2028

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan

The Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPDev)-Western Visayas on Friday, May 29, launched the country’s first subnational road safety plan outside Metro Manila, targeting reductions in road crash deaths and serious injuries across the region.

DEPDev-6 published the Western Visayas Road Safety Action Plan (WVRSAP) 2026–2028, developed under the “Ligtas na Kalsada for All” or LinK4All initiative, which seeks to reduce road crash-related injuries and deaths through coordinated governance, safer infrastructure, stricter enforcement, and improved transport planning.

The WVRSAP was approved by the Regional Development Council (RDC) VI through Resolution No. 141 in December 2025.

The regional office spearheaded consultations and workshops involving more than 200 participants from government agencies, local governments, civil society groups, academe, and the transport sector.

RDC VI Chairperson and Aklan Gov. Jose Enrique Miraflores described road safety as “a fundamental commitment to protecting lives and communities.”

“It is in this spirit that the Regional Development Council (RDC) VI presents the Western Visayas Road Safety Action Plan (WVRSAP) 2026-2028, the country’s first subnational road safety plan outside Metro Manila,” Miraflores said in his message.

The WVRSAP also seeks to institutionalize comprehensive road safety ordinances in all provinces, cities, and municipalities in Western Visayas by 2028.

Provincial road safety task forces, impounding sites, school zone protections, active mobility ordinances, and strengthened speed management systems are among the measures targeted under the three-year plan.

The plan aligns with the Philippine Road Safety Action Plan 2023–2028 and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which seek to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries globally by 2030.

The action plan outlines six focus areas: road safety management, safe road infrastructure, safe vehicles, safe road use, post-crash response, and multimodal transport and land use planning.

The region adopted a “Vision Zero” approach that seeks to eliminate road deaths through safe systems and shared responsibility.

Under the plan, Western Visayas aims to reduce its road crash death rate per 100,000 population from 8.66 in 2024 to 6 by 2028.

Fatal road crash cases per 100,000 population are also targeted to decline from 193 in 2024 to 100 by 2028.

The region also seeks to lower crash severity from 10.45 percent in 2024 to 5 percent by 2028.

The action plan calls for the establishment of a Western Visayas Road Safety Observatory that will centralize crash data and support evidence-based planning.

“Accurate or up-to-date crash data will enable us to assess the effectiveness of existing laws and policies, and we can recommend necessary adjustments based on the data that we have,” said Syukri Khalid, a researcher at the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research, according to the plan.

The WVRSAP identified fragmented governance, inconsistent enforcement, weak data systems, and inadequate infrastructure as major barriers to road safety in the region.

According to the document, Western Visayas has a combined road network of 12,836.14 kilometers maintained by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and local government units.

The plan noted that many roads still lack sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, protected bike lanes, and safety features for vulnerable road users, including children, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities.

AGENCY COMMITMENTS

The WVRSAP included messages from regional government agencies that committed to implementing the measures recommended in the plan.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) VI committed to helping local governments integrate road safety into development plans and strengthen enforcement systems.

“We commit to guiding our LGUs in integrating road safety into local development plans, building their technical capacities, and ensuring that policies translate into concrete on-the-ground improvements,” DILG VI Regional Director Juan Jovian Ingeniero said, as quoted in the plan.

DPWH VI also pledged to mainstream safety measures in road construction and maintenance projects.

“We will endeavor to integrate safety features such as proper signage, pedestrian facilities, traffic calming measures, and engineering solutions that reduce crash risks,” said Jose Al Fruto, then-DPWH VI OIC-Regional Director when the WVRSAP was being collated and reviewed.

The Department of Health (DOH) Western Visayas Center for Health Development said road safety must be treated as a public health concern.

“Every crash represents not just statistics, but lives disrupted—families grieving, children injured, and communities bearing the long-term physical, emotional, and economic consequences,” said then-DOH Western Visayas OIC-Regional Director Ma. Sophia Pulmones.