Jolina advises all parents: use child car seats!

MANILA (2020 November 30) - Celebrity mom Jolina Magdangal is appealing to parents to use car seats when traveling with their children, to help stem the still-high number of road incidents in pandemic-ridden 2020. 

“Para sa isang magulang na katulad ko, ano pa ba ang mas mahalaga kundi ang safety ng mga anak natin at mahal sa buhay? (For a parent like me, what could be more important than the safety of our children and loved ones?),” said Jolina in a recent interview, during which she calls for more vigilance among parents when it comes to keeping children safe on the road.  

The vivacious entertainer and TV host said she and her family are actually “homebodies” and that the COVID-19 lockdowns was not a huge adjustment for them in terms of going out. But when they had to go out, she said she always makes sure her children, 6 and 2 years of age, are strapped in car seats. 

Jolina’s resolve over ensuring her children’s safety inside cars, and for road safety in general, arises heavily from her family having been in a road crash. In July 2017, a van rammed into the rear of their family car while they were en route to the airport to catch a flight. She and her husband, musician Mark Escueta, suffered minor injuries. Their son, Pele, 3 years old at the time, was with them and, thankfully, emerged from the bump unharmed. 

“Na-realize ko—salamat sa car seat! Paano kung wala ang car seat, sa liit ng katawan nya, hindi ko na alam (I realized how thankful I was for the car seat. What if I had not put my son in a car seat? With such a small and fragile body, I dread to think of what could have happened),” she recalls of her relief after she checked on her son right after their car was hit. Apart from mild upset at having his crinkles thrown out of the container, Pele was fine, cushioned from the impact of the crash by the car seat he was strapped in. 

Jolina is also thankful that the country now has a law requiring the use of child car seats (also known as child restraint systems or CRS): RA 11229, or the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act of 2019, which requires the use of CRS for a  children 12 years of age and younger (or 4'11' in height or less) in all private vehicles, that children do not sit in front, and that they are never left alone in the car. Enforcement of the law begins in February 2021. 

“Finally, mai-implement na ang RA 11229 sa Pilipinas! (Finally, RA 11229 is now for implementation in the Philippines!),” the celebrity mother exclaims. She was involved in calling for the passing of the bill when it was being deliberated on years ago, owing much to the road crash her family went through. 

She has since made it her advocacy to convince other parents to buckle up their children in car seats whenever they have to be on the road, especially as lockdowns might be lifted in a few months when a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available. 

Watch Jolina’s full interview with Mr. Rhenz Diche for the campaign, Buckle up your treasures! 

Follow Buckle Up Kids PH on Facebook for updates on the implementation of RA 11229, which starts February 2021.  

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