PASAY CITY, Philippines — Senator Raffy Tulfo has filed a resolution calling for a Senate inquiry into safety hazards and accidents caused by dangerous electrical and overhead utility lines on roads nationwide.
Senate Resolution No. 776 targets improperly installed cables, poorly maintained utility poles, and dangling or low-hanging wires that endanger pedestrians, motorists, commuters, children, and residents.
As chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Services, Tulfo pointed to multiple tragic incidents previously featured on his television program, Raffy Tulfo in Action (RTIA). These cases include an April 28 incident where a Grade 3 student suffered severe injuries requiring the amputation of both hands after touching an unsafe electrical wire.
He also cited a March 18 report highlighting dangerous “spaghetti wires” in Valenzuela City, as well as the January 4, 2025 death of a 12-year-old boy in Barangay Magdaia, Imus, Cavite, who was electrocuted after coming into contact with an allegedly energized light post that lacked proper warning signs.
Emphasizing that similar reports persist across the country, Tulfo stressed the urgent need to inspect overhead infrastructure safety.
“The continued occurrence of such incidents demonstrates the need to identify the owners of hazardous lines, determine the respective responsibilities of utility companies and public authorities, establish clear inspection and reporting mechanisms, and ensure prompt removal, repair, relocation, or securing of unsafe facilities,” he said.
“There is likewise a need to assess the adequacy of existing laws, regulations, local ordinances, permit requirements, safety standards, inspection mechanisms, penalties, procedures, as well as remedies available to victims of accidents and electrocutions caused by unsafe electrical and overhead utility infrastructure,” he added.