Persons suffering from obesity should not face discrimination in public utility vehicles (PUVs), a health expert stated on Thursday.
In a media conference, Dr. Nemencio Nicodemus Jr., President of the Philippine Association for the Study of Overweight and Obesity, addressed the issue of charging individuals with obesity double fares in PUVs. “Pag may high blood [pressure] ba, doble ba pamasahe mo? Sakit yan e (When you have high blood pressure, do you double your fare? No, because it's a disease). So if you have obesity, that's not a cause for you to have social injustice,” Nicodemus said.
He emphasized that many people are not adequately or correctly informed about obesity and that it is not solely the individual's fault. “I believe that people that are not just adequately informed or correctly informed that persons with such condition, such as obesity, it's not entirely their fault. Obesity is not just their fault,” he added.
In June, a jeepney driver accused of body-shaming a passenger was summoned for a hearing by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB). The driver and his wife reportedly asked a passenger to leave their vehicle because of her weight.
This incident follows a similar occurrence in 2020, when the ride-hailing app Angkas announced that "heavy passengers may be denied," citing government guidelines on motorcycle safety.
Nicodemus expressed that such instances are disheartening and should not happen. “Alam naman natin na hindi ito kagustuhan ng isang tao (We all know that this is not someone's fault),” he added.