Legislation of student fare discount sought

Sen. Sonny Angara yesterday pressed the need for Congress to institutionalize the 20 percent student fare discount as its current implementation is merely based on memorandum circular of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).

“If we want to provide long-term assistance to our students, we need to come up with a law to institutionalize the regulatory policy which can always be subject to change,” he said.

“Such could come in a form of a legislation that will ensure the continued implementation of such policy which, at present, may not be enforced effectively since it’s just based on a circular issued by the LTFRB,” he added.

The Department of Transportation (DoTr) recently issued a public reminder about the entitlement of students to fare discounts not only during weekdays, but even during weekends and holidays as well as the corresponding penalties for operators and drivers of public utility vehicles who violate such regulation.

Angara, author of Senate Bill 945 which seeks to expand the student discount’s coverage to cover not only land transportation but even the Metro Rail Transit (MRT), Light Rail Transit (LRT), airplanes and passenger ships all year round, enjoined colleagues to fast-track the approval of his proposed measure.

The vice chair of the Senate education committee underscored the need for such legislation to ensure that students will continue to enjoy reduced transportation in the future.

“Let’s lessen a bit the hardship of parents in sending their children to school. One way is to help our students by cutting their transportation expenses. The money saved from the fare discount can be used for other school requirements,” Angara said.

“We always say that the youth is the future of the country. Let’s make this come true by investing adequately on our students,” he added.

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