School shuttle group to mark class opening with protest vs vehicle age limit

MORE TIME Transport operators roll out a protest caravan May 7, 2015 in Quezon City to seek a delay in the enforcement of the age limit on vehicles used as school shuttles. LYN RILLON

School service vehicle operators will greet the opening of classes with fresh protests against the government-ordered phaseout of units that are more than 15 years old.

The National Alliance School Service Association of the Philippines (Nassap) said its members would not take passengers on June 13 to demand the extension of the moratorium on the phaseout.

Nassap members will instead hold a protest motorcade from Quezon Memorial Circle to the main office of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on East Avenue, Quezon City, Nassap president Celso de la Paz said on Saturday.

De la Paz said their action may not be considered a “tigil-pasada” or transport stoppage since the LTFRB had ordered the enforcement of the age limit for vehicles and many of the units operated by Nassap members may be flagged down by authorities if they hit the road that day.

“We can’t take the students to school because our units will be apprehended. On Monday, we will see if there would be no shortage of school shuttles as claimed by the LTFRB,” De la Paz said.

There are about 10,000 registered school shuttles nationwide but only about 25 percent have been replaced to comply with the LTFRB’s modernization program, according to Efren de Luna, chair of the Alliance of Concerned Transport Organization (Acto).

De Luna assailed LTFRB chair Winston Ginez for not deferring  the enforcement up to the next administration that will take over on June 30. He warned that more than 100,000 students nationwide will be affected by the phaseout.

Nassap argued that school shuttles should have a higher age limit since they cater only to students and are unlike public utility vehicles that ply a regular route for hours and are thus more prone to wear and tear.

The group is asking for a new extension to gradually replace the units as they wait for Euro 4-compliant machines ordered from China. Euro 4 is an emissions standard for reduced levels of particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and hydrocarbons.

Ginez recently said the LTFRB already granted their request for a moratorium in 2015, when the phaseout was due as set by a memorandum circular issued in 2013.

Operators who applied for extension were required to submit an affidavit of undertaking to show their commitment to replace the overaged units before the opening of school year 2016-17. –Erika Sauler