NATIONAL SECURITY PROGRAM FOR LAND TRANSPORTATION, RAIL SYSTEM AND INFRASTRUCTURE

A written National Security Programme designed to safeguard road, and heavy and light rail transportation systems against unlawful interference through the regulations, practices and procedures is a requirement of Executive Order (E.O.) No. 277, January 2004, as amended by Executive Order (E.O.) No. 311, April 26, 2004.

The Programme was crafted by the Land Transportation Security Bureau (LTSB) which is headed by an Assistant Administrator assisted by a  Deputy  and  two (2) division chiefs for Road Transport and Railways, respectively. It is presently manned by only five (5) personnel, or 350 short of the proposed 355 strengths.  

Land Transportation, a collective term for Road Transportation, Rail System and Infrastructure, are characterized as inexpensive, convenient and readily accessible to the traveling public. Given these conditions, it may be said that the Land Transportation System can not be protected from terrorists and criminal elements as easily as the other modes of transportation such as the civil aviation and the maritime system.

Unlike airplanes and ships, land transportation vehicles make countless stops along corridors accessible from the ground, making it more vulnerable. Consequently, profiling and elaborate means of screening passengers and their baggage, and the delay they would cause would be enormous.

The road and the rail transportation systems have some peculiarities themselves, brought about by the marked differences in their systems of operations and the environments within which they operate.

The rail system enjoys a more controlled type of operations. The rail vehicles, as well as the support infrastructures, including the rail ways are operator-owned, and therefore, can be designed to suit their operating and security needs. In contrast, not all support infrastructures in road transportation systems such as the roads and bridges, are owned by land transportation operators. Moreover, not all of these operators have their own facilities and had to rely on those owned by other private parties or the government such as bus stops, terminals and stations.

Thus, to properly address those peculiarities, the Programme is divided into two Books, namely: Book I - Road Transportation Security; and Book II- Rail Transportation Security.  The programme was approved by the Administrator, OTS on June 30, 2009, after consultation with NALARSEC members and thorough review by the OTS Technical Working Group (TWG).