DOTC nixes trykes, private jeeps for school service
The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) will run after unauthorized and unsafe school service vehicles such as private jeeps and tricycles.
The move is part of Oplan Balik-Paaralan when the school year 2006 opens in two-weeks time.
LTFRB Chairperson Maria Elena Bautista had sought the help of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in putting a stop to the use of tricycles and the so-called owner-type jeeps being used by some schools as "school service" for students, particularly elementary pupils.
Bautista said that tricycles, whose operation and regulation fall under the jurisdiction of local governments, are the "most unsafe" school service vehicle, wherein some pupils are allowed to ride on the roof or stick their bodies out of these vehicles by drivers and operators.
She added that these unauthorized school services, which operate without a franchise or permit from the LTFRB, should be impounded and the driver's license suspended for three months.
Meanwhile, Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza had instructed its attached agencies to closely coordinate with the Philippine National Police, Philippine Coast Guard, Maritime Industry Authority and other concerned agencies in strengthening security in all transportation facilities nationwide, especially in school zones.
(PIA 6)