A lawmaker on Wednesday appealed to the leadership of the House of Representatives to prioritize the passage of a bill institutionalizing a 20 percent discount for students in land, air and sea transport fares.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, author of House Bill 7269, said the proposed fare discount will help students and their parents cope with the ever-increasing costs of basic goods and of education.
“This will mostly benefit indigent students and their families who have to cope with rising prices of basic goods.
“A discount on transport fares would help ease the daily woes of low-income families, especially parents sending more than one kid to school,” said Villafuerte whose bill was among the measures earlier passed and consolidated into a substitute bill by the House committee on transportation.
Under the bill, a student shall be entitled to a 20-percent discount on the regular domestic fares of all kinds of public transportation utilities upon the presentation of a duly issued and validated school identification card or current validated enrolment form, supported by any document to properly establish identity.
This substitute bill seeks to institutionalize the grant of fare discount currently being enforced by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board even during weekends and holidays and which covers all means of transportation all-year round.
The Senate already approved its version of the bill on third and final reading last October.