(MANILA BULLETIN)

A ranking congressman is pursuing the exemption of public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers from the payment of application or renewal fees when securing their professional driver’s license.

House Bill (HB) No.7796, authored by CIBAC Party-List Rep. Bro. Eddie Villanueva, seeks to institutionalize this benefit for PUV drivers.

“CIBAC recognizes that PUV drivers who are key players of our public transport sector are mostly minimum-wage earners. Thus, exempting them from paying application or renewal fees in securing professional driver’s license will greatly help in cushioning their meager income from the unabated price surge of fuel and from the adverse effects of the pandemic," Villanueva said in a statement Monday, April 24.

This will also allow the PUV drivers to take home a larger disposable profit, said the chairman of the House Committee on Sustainable Development Goals and former deputy speaker.

Villanueva added that in some rural areas, tricycle drivers are either driving without professional driver's license or driving with an expired one. He attributes this to the high cost of fees in applying for and renewing driver's license.

The bill defines PUVs as road-based motor vehicles that provide conveyance to the general public passenger and/or domestic cargo for a fee, offering services to the public. These include trucks-for-hire, UV express service, public utility buses (PUBS), public utility jeepneys (PUJs), tricycles, filcabs, and taxis.

However, transport vehicles accredited with or operating through Transport Networks corporations and individual are not covered.

Under the HB No.7796 no fee shall be imposed as charge in the license application or renewal of PUV drivers except for fees required to be paid to government or institutions providing services and documents necessary in the application or renewal of driver’s license, such as but not limited to medical or eye examinations from Land Transportation Office (LTO) accredited clinics, ID pictures, birth certificates and the likes.

Currently, the driver’s license application/renewal fee is estimated to cost P600 to P700, inclusive of processing charge.

The exemption can be availed upon presentation of a certification from the local government unit that the applicant is a validated PUV driver, and a membership identification card issued by a recognized transport organization or a tricycle operators and drivers association (TODA).

The bill also penalizes PUV drivers who will submit falsified documents to avail of the exemption, with a fine ranging P50,000 to P100,000; and/or imprisonment of one month to six months upon discretion of the court.