DOTr-LTO, ImagineLaw Launches 'Dahan-Dahan Sa Daan' to Promote Speed Limit Setting Nationwide

Anyone who wants to know the speed limits in their city or municipality can now head over to www.dahandahansadaan.ph.

ImagineLaw, a public interest law organization advocating for road safety, announced today the launch of its new website 'Dahan-Dahan Sa Daan,' a database of all speed limit ordinances in the Philippines. According to ImagineLaw Executive Director Sophia San Luis, this website is part of its effort to help Government improve road safety throughout the country.

"Two months ago, ImagineLaw signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to assist in ensuring speed limit enforcement nationwide," said San Luis. "As part of our commitment, we have developed a website to help the government and the public track which local government units (LGUs) in the Philippines have enacted speed limit ordinances in accordance with Republic Act No. 4136 and the Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) 2018-001."

The JMC, issued in 2018, provides standards and guidelines on speed limit setting, road classification, and road crash data collection.

"Dahandahansadaan.ph is part of the government’s efforts to come up with a centralized database of speed limit ordinances nationwide as mandated under JMC 2018-001. This database not only serves as a tool to monitor compliance with JMC 2018-001, but also guides policy-making at the national level," shared LTO Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante.

dahandahansadaan.ph features the Philippine map with color-coded pins that indicate the existence, comprehensiveness, and effectiveness of the LGU's speed limit ordinance. Green pins show LGUs which have enacted speed limit ordinances based on road classification, as JMC 2018-001 requires. Yellow pins represent LGUs with speed limits that are not based on their local road conditions and do not cover all roads. Red pins, taking more than half of the map, are LGUs without speed limit ordinances.

Current data gathered by ImagineLaw shows that only 12 LGUs in the Philippines have comprehensive and effective speed limit ordinances. Majority of the LGUs do not have speed limit ordinances, while 249 have ordinances that are either ineffective as they do not classify roads in accordance with RA 4136, or incomplete, as they only cover a few roads.

DOTr OIC-Undersecretary Mark Richmund de Leon urges everyone to call on their LGU officials to pass a speed limit ordinance within their city or municipality. He said "LGUs play a crucial role in promoting safer roads and we need to remind them of this role. At dahandahansadaan.ph, you can see how your LGU is faring in terms of road safety, and demand action. Speed kills, so we must act now."

Aside from a template letter, the website provides tools and links to relevant resources such as a manual on enacting speed limit ordinances. Visitors can also report errors in the information provided in the website, or submit ordinances directly to ImagineLaw for uploading into the database.