REVILLA ANSWERS "CALL OF NATURE" ALONG HI-WAYS

To ensure the wellbeing of the riding public not only in the aspect of road safety, Senator Bong Revilla pushed for the systematic setting up of restrooms along national and provincial highways nationwide.

The senator stressed that the government has undoubtedly implemented various measures to address the rapid increase of land vehicles in country, primarily focusing in the creation and rehabilitation of road infrastructure such as highways and bridges. "We must find ways for the comfort of our travelling public, not only in terms of road safety and traffic management. We must also bear in mind that health and sanitation should also be a forefront variable in the measures that we craft," said Revilla, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Services and Senate Committee on Public Works.

According to Revilla, there are long stretches of roads, especially in the rural and provincial areas that have no restroom facilities for motorists to relieve themselves. "Because of this, motorists are left with no choice but to stop and relieve themselves at the roadside where it is not only dangerous due to the oncoming traffic, but also uncomfortable and highly unsanitary. We must help our road users in their hygienic practice," he pointed out.

Under Revilla's Senate Bill No. 3358 or the Highway Restrooms Bill, public restrooms shall be constructed every thirty (30) to fifty (50) kilometers along national and provincial highways throughout the country. These shall be erected within a distance of at least three (3) meters from the shoulder of the highway. "The MMDA had already built urinals along EDSA. It relieved our male motorists and pedestrians but unfortunately, it caused sanitation issues because the discharges spilled out on the sidewalk. What we need are clean and efficient public restrooms for both male and female road users, " he said.

The maintenance and supervision of the public restrooms shall be vested in the city or municipal government that has the jurisdiction in the area, which may include the collection of fee per single use of the restroom. The collection, from the use of the public restrooms shall be held in a trust fund. Income derived from the public restrooms operation shall be used for the development projects of the barangay where it is located. "This would also be an income-generating measure for our LGUs. This would be a great help to empower our barangays, " the lawmaker further explained.

Also under the bill, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), in coordination with the Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Health (DOH) and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), shall be mainly responsible for the production of the standard sized public restrooms and the programming of the implementation of this project. The public restrooms shall be built with accessibility features for disabled persons and shall be consistent with the provisions in Section 54 of Presidential Decree No. 856, otherwise known as the Code of Sanitation of the Philippines.

On Wednesday (September 16), the Senate Committee on Public Works will have a public hearing regarding the measure.