Angeles City school receives global award for championing children’s road safety

Angeles City, Pampanga – Tacondo Elementary School in Angeles City receives an award from the City Government of Angeles and its global road safety partners, led by UNICEF Philippines, for championing children’s safety along school zones.

The school achieved a five-star rating, or a perfect score, on the Star Rating for Schools (SR4S) program for implementing road safety measures such as pedestrian lanes, road markings, signage, traffic signals, and physical barriers to protect schoolchildren from road crashes. SR4S is a program used worldwide to measure and address risks that children are exposed to on their journey to and from school.

“We commend Tacondo Elementary School for receiving this recognition. As a way to thank our partners for their continued support to Angeles City, from the enactment of our Road Safety Ordinance in 2023 to the implementation of road safety improvements this year, we fully commit to continue ensuring that Angeles roads are safe for all, especially children,” Vice Mayor Vicky Vega Cabigting promised.

The Angeles City Traffic Development Office and select learners led a tour of the school to show everyone the new road safety signs, markings, and engineering interventions installed.

“We are very grateful to our school, our community, and all the champions who helped establish these road safety features. This National Children’s Month, our hope is for the government to continue making roads safer because no child deserves to lose their life due to road crashes,” said Megan Tagalicud, a Grade 6 pupil from Tacondo Elementary School.

In his message, Dr. Angelito Umali of UNICEF Philippines shared that road traffic injuries remain the leading cause of death for children 5 to 18 years old. “In 2017, the Philippine Statistics Authority recorded that at least 1,600 Filipino children are killed by road crashes every year. We at UNICEF believe that it is every child’s right to survive and thrive in a healthy and safe environment, and today we witnessed here at Tacondo Elementary School that creating such is possible,” said Dr. Umali.

Civil society organizations, like law group ImagineLaw, were also present and congratulated the local partners in Angeles for successfully completing the SR4S program. “We hope that the milestone achieved today inspires our local government leaders to continuously take action, because going to school or playing outside should not be a death sentence for children,” said Atty. Reina Fabregas, ImagineLaw’s road safety project manager. ### (PR)