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Need for an independent transport safety body pushed: Sen. Grace Poe reiterates her call for the creation of a Philippine Transportation Safety Board (PTSB). Sponsoring Senate Bill No. 1121 during the plenary session Tuesday, March 7, 2023, the Committee on Public Services chairperson maintained the need for an independent government body to investigate transportation-related accidents, especially when state agencies with "conflicting roles" as regulators, operators and investigators are involved. She cited the malfunction at the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines' (CAAP) air traffic control systems, which halted flights in and out of the country on New Year's Day, January 1. "This is exactly why we need the PTSB. We need an independent agency that shall conduct independent, thorough, and truthful investigations, and provide for corresponding and critical recommendations," Poe said. Last July, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. vetoed a bill creating PTSB, citing duplication of functions. (Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate PRIB)