LTFRB fines 2 operators P50K each for PWD violations

Two transport operators were fined P50,000 each by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for refusing to convey a person with disability (PWD) and for not having designated PWD seats.

LTFRB board member Ariel Inton said the conductor of Bovjen Bus—Welie Ras Gumalas—admitted during an en banc hearing on Wednesday that the vehicle did not have seats allotted for PWDs.

This was in violation of its transport franchise under Joint Administrative Order No. 2014-01, the LTFRB noted.

The case against Bovjen—operated by Alberto Caratig—stemmed from a complaint posted on Facebook that two hearing-impaired passengers were maltreated by the driver and conductor and told to get off at the wrong destination.

Meanwhile, Angelito Pagtalunan filed a complaint against jeepney driver Aurelio Ladrillo.

Pagtalunan said he was going to the National Children’s Hospital together with his child who has hydrocephalus and his wife who was in a wheelchair for her orthopedic disability.

Pagtalunan added that after he placed his child on a seat inside the jeepney, he was about to help his wife when Ladrilo angrily asked them to get off.

Refusal to convey a PWD is also a franchise violation, the LTFRB said, adding that Jerome Kitan, the operator of the Pier South-Project 2 & 3 jeepney (TXD 533) driven by Ladrillo, would be penalized.

Inton said the board strongly recommended to the Land Transportation Office that it cancel Ladrillo’s license because of his rudeness.