The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB-7) will start the inspection of school transport services when classes open on June 13.
Reynaldo Elnar, LTFRB-7 assistant regional director, said that school transport services like vans, buses and jeepneys should have seatbelts and medical kits.
“If these are violated, then operators will pay P2,500 as penalty (for the violation),” Elnar told Cebu Daily News yesterday.
If the violation is repeated, the franchise will be subject to suspension and can also be cancelled.
Elnar said that the inspection of the school transport services is to ensure that students will have road worthy transports especially since classes are expected to open next week.
“It is also timely since this year will be the start of the phasing out of 15-year-old school transport services,” he said.
Phased out units will no longer be used for public transport, but it can be used as a private vehicle.
If these phased out units have existing franchises, then they need to replace these units with brand new ones, he said.
Phased out units will be identified through its certificate of registration. Violators will pay P1 million for school bus types, P200,000 for school van and P50,000 for jeepney under Joint Administrative Order (JAO) 2014-01.
Meanwhile, lawyer Antonio “Ariel” Enrile-Inton Jr., LTFRB board member, is reminding jeepney and bus drivers to continue giving the 20 percent fare discount to students.
According to the LTFRB’s memorandum, public utility vehicle operators are required to grant fare discounts to students during school days and these shall cover only those currently enrolled in pre-school, elementary, collegiate schools, including academic, vocational or technical school duly recognized by the government.
Students of dancing and driving schools and those taking up short term courses (seminar type courses) and post-graduate studies are not covered by this order.
“If the PUV drivers will doubt if the person asking for a fare discount is a student, then the student will be required to show his school ID or certificate of registration,” Inton said in Filipino.
“Students are entitled to the fare discount only during school days, and not during holidays and weekends when there are no classes. But we should also consider that there are some students who have Saturday classes, and even Sundays for some, especially those like ROTC, NSTP that are being conducted on a Sunday,” he said.
Violators will be fined P2,000 for the first offense.