Bill to extend 20% students’ fare discount to planes, ships

Sen. Grace Poe addresses a crowd during the 82nd Dia de la Ciudad de Zamboanga on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2019. (Photo from her Facebook account)

MANILA, Philippines — Students will get not only a 20-percent discount on fares for public vehicles on land but also on tickets for commercial planes and ships — that is if a bill that Sen. Grace Poe is pushing for is enacted.

“A law I’m pushing for will institutionalize the 20-percent discount for all students, not only for public land transportation jeep and bus fares but also for plane fares. So they can travel more,” Poe, speaking in Filipino, said during the 82nd Dia de la Ciudad de Zamboanga in Zamboanga City on Tuesday, where she had been invited as a guest.

READ: Senate approves year-round student fare discount

The discount should be honored on buses, jeepneys, taxis, tricycles, transport network vehicle services (TNVS), the Metro Rail Transit-3 (MRT 3), Light Rail Transit (LRT) as well as airlines and passenger ships.

However, discounts on plane fares would only be applicable to domestic travel on base fare, students would need to show a valid school identification card or current validated enrollment form, Poe said.

Under the proposal, she added, students traveling abroad for education, training, and competition would be exempt from paying travel tax on presentation of proof or documentation of intended purpose.

Poe is a co-author and co-sponsor of the proposed Student Fare Discount Act, or Senate Bill No. 1597.

Earlier this month, a reconciled version of SB 1597 and its counterpart measure at the House of Representatives was ratified and is just awaiting the signature of the President.

READ: Senate ratifies bicam reports on Student Fare Discount, other bills

“I’m one of those pushing for projects for the benefit of students and others who may need help,” Poe said.

Once enacted into law, the 20-percent fare discount will apply to students from grade school to college and those enrolled in technical-vocational schools.

However, those enrolled in dancing and driving schools; short-term, seminar-type courses; and graduate studies would not be covered by the measure, Poe said. /atm