Honor fare discount

CEBU, Philippines —  With students returning to school physically and now taking public transportation again, the Cebu City Council called on public transportation operators, cooperatives, and companies to comply strictly with the mandatory 20 percent discount on domestic regular fares for students.

Republic Act 11314 or the Student Fare Discount Act requires that students be given the discount during the entire period while they are enrolled, including weekends and holidays, among others.

The council made the call through a resolution authored by Councilor James Anthony Cuenco.

Cuenco said that with the resumption of face-to-face classes, passenger volume increases in the city where majority of the secondary and tertiary schools are located.

The city has various modes of public transportation such as public utility buses (PUBs) with Cebu Interim Bus Service (CIBus), traditional and modernized public utility jeepneys (TPUJs and MPUJs), Vans-for-Hire (vhires), taxis, and public motorized tricycles (PMT) operating in specific inter-city and intra-city routes.

“Pursuant to Republic Act No. 11314 otherwise known as the ‘Student Fare Discount Act,’ all students shall be entitled to a grant of twenty percent (20%) discount on domestic regular fares, upon personal presentation of their duly issued school identification cards (IDs) or current validated enrollment form, supported by prescribed government-issued identification document,” Cuenco said.

“In furtherance of the constitutional policy of providing financial incentives to all deserving students in both public and private schools, especially to the underprivileged, as enshrined in the Student Fare Discount Act and in advancing the general welfare of the studentry and the youth of the City of Cebu as embodied in the Local Government Code of 1992, there is a need to ensure the strict implementation of the mandatory grant of a student fare discount privilege to all students availing of the services of any and all modes of public transportation in the city,” he added.

The Council also requested the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board - Regional Franchising and Regulatory Office VII (LTFRB-RFRO VII) to enforce RA 11314 by undertaking alternative means of information dissemination to all public transportation operators, drivers, and conductors, as well as the riding-public, of the existence and implementation of the law.

The Council also asked the Cebu City Traffic Management Coordination Committee (TMC) through its implementing arm, the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO), to assist and support the LTFRB-RFRO VIl in ensuring that RA 11314 is strictly followed by all public transportation services in the city by conducting random information drives and placing informative signs in school zones and public utility vehicle (PUV) terminals.  – JMO (FREEMAN)