DIAIII ASSBUI,T,ETIII
I.EAIDING NEWSPAPEB
Monday, AprilS;2019
Student fare discount bill transmitted
to Palace for President's signature
iBrq!4.Blssrllr.ttElrnilar-
Good news for public and priv.ate
school students-
The enrolled copy of the bill seek-
Student fare discount...
It was learned that enrolled bill $'as
hansmitted to the President on March
27,2019.
Catanftranes Rep. Cesar Sarmiento,
chairman of the House Committee on
Tlansportation which approled the bill in
eady December last yeal said the signing
of the bill into law is "timeg'following the
rising prices of goods and the increasing
cost ofliving.
'We can lessen the sfudents'burdens
by lessening the amount they ar€ paying
fortheif daily,commuts," he said.
At present, students get 20 percent
discount on land hansport like jeepneys
and buses under the cirnrlar issued by
tlte Landftansportation Flanchisingand
R€gulatory Board C,TFnB).
Quezon City Rep. Alfted Varyas also
sought the enactment of the measure
into law citing that it seeks to address
economic concems and the alarmingrate
ofschool drop-outs.
"This will ease the fnancial burden
of parents and guardians. The cost of
education in the counhy, plus students'
incidental openses like tr.ansportation
continues to rise," he said"
the House of R€prEsentati!€s passed
the b;ll last month, while the Senate ap-
pnrved ib orrmlersion of th€bill in October
lastyear
The bill mandates a year-round 20
peKbnl. discount for students pn regu-
lar domestic fares in all forms of public
bansportation, including land, rail sea,
and air
q
7asrr7 P^g€ll
ing to institutionalize and expand the
2o-percent student fare discount to
include air and sea transport has been
transmitted to MalacananE for
President Duterte's signatire. >9
<1
Under the measure, transportation
operators shall grant the discounts upon
the presentation of a duly-issued and
validated identification ca.rd or current
validated erurlrnent form supported by
pmof of identity
Students may enjoy the seven-day
transportation discount privilege the
.tnthbtime theyre
enmlled in school, in-
dudingsumrnerclasses, Chrisfunas breah
Lentenbrcah semesbal brealg and school
summervacation.
More than20millionpublicandprhate
shirdents arc e)pected to benefitftom ttre
pmposed law
Under the bill, anyone who uses
falsifled identification documents will be
deprived of these privileges and may be
subject to civil and penal liabilities pre-
scribedbylaw..
A student who is rcfused the farc dis-
count privilege may file a complaint with
the Land Thansportation Ftanchising and
RegulatoryBoard 0,1TRB) forlandpublic
b:ansportation utilities, except tricycles;
the Maritime Indushy Authority (MA:
RINA) br seaAnaterpublic hansportation; '
the Civil Aercnautics Boad (CAB) for air
public tansportation facilities; the Legal
Service of the Deparhnentof Ilansporta-
tion (DQlb) for rail public h€isportation
facilities, including the Manila Light
Rail Tfansit Slstem, the Manila Metrb
Rail ftamit Sysiem. and the Philippine
National Raihmy SJ,6tem; and the Office
of the Local Chief b.ecutive of the local
government unit cnncerned for ticycles.