THE driver and the operator of a passenger jeepney plying the San Fabian to Dagupan route who figured in a shouting match two weeks ago with some of his passengers who protested the overcharging of fare, are being investigated by the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB).

This was the update from Atty. Anabel Marian-Nullar, chief of the transportation regulatory division of LTFRB 1, to the members of the  Sangguniang Panlalawigan on Oct. 3 over the  incident, which was video-taped by one of the passengers and uploaded on social media and became viral.

She said the operator and the driver were summoned to show cause why the certificate of public conveyance or franchise of the jeepney issued to the operator should not be revoked because of that.

LTFRB Region 1 saw the video on social media and promptly summoned the operator and the driver of the jeepney even if none of the passengers filed complaints.

Nullar was called during the Question Hour on motion of 4th District Board Member Marinol de Guzman, who was called by a constituent after noting the video uploaded on social media concerning  the shouting match between the driver and his passengers that went viral.

De Guzman said the passengers were protesting the P50 fare being demanded by the still unnamed jeepney driver from each of his passengers, many of whom were students going to school in Dagupan City, and were forced to transfer to other jeepneys to continue their travel to Dagupan.

Nullar said the rate should  have been only P31.80 for ordinary passengers and P25.50 for students, senior citizens and persons with disability after De Guzman verified that the distance between the two places is 15 kilometers.

Nullar said penalty for overcharging drivers and operators of public utility vehicles are P5,000 for the first offense, P10,000 for the second offense and P15,000 and revocation of the vehicle’s franchise for the third offense.

She said LTFRB has already imposed fines to a number of overcharging jeepney drivers and operators in Region 1 based on the complaints of their passengers, and urged passengers to lodge their complaints with the agency by sending text messages and video tapes if any.

Ramon Imbuedo, president of the San Fabian-Dagupan Jeepney Drivers and Operators, said he has advised members not to overcharged fare and apply LTFRB authorized fares. (Leonardo Micua)

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