LTFRB takes bus conductor’s side vs ‘student’

AN OFFICIAL of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has clarified that students are entitled to a fare discount on a school day, regardless of the hour. The privilege, however, does not apply to postgraduate students.

Board member Ariel Inton issued the statement following a heated argument in Mandaluyong City between a 28-year-old woman and a Malanday Metro Link bus conductor over the student fare discount. Both later traded accusations of being struck by the other.

According to a police report, Edel Barcoso, the 31-year-old bus conductor, demanded an identification card after the complainant, Sofia Larmy, a travel process associate from Pasig City, asked for a student discount.

Larmy was reportedly offended and slapped Barcoso when he said that it was late in the evening for a student to be granted a discount. The incident happened at 11 p.m. on Feb. 18 on the southbound lane of Edsa-Shaw in Mandaluyong City.

Larmy, on the other hand, accused Barcoso of hitting her back as she tried to capture their argument on her cell phone.

In a hearing on Wednesday at the LTFRB, Barcoso said that he did not strike the passenger back. He was backed up by another passenger who appeared as his witness while the complainant was a no-show.

Inton said the case against Barcoso would likely be dismissed by the LTFRB as the complainant failed to prove that she was a student.

Unlike fare discounts for senior citizens and persons with disability which are backed by the law, the student discount’s legal basis rests only on a memorandum circular issued by the LTFRB, Inton said.

Failure to give fare discounts is a violation that carries a fine of P5,000 for the first offense, P10,000 for the second time and P15,000 for the third offense.