Accredited Driving Schools may apila sa LTO

          

by Mildred A. Bacud

Bilang tugon sa naging desisyon ng Land Transportation Office (LTO)sa pamumuno ni Chief Jay Art Tugade ay nagkaroon ng presscon ang Association of Acredited Driving School of the Philippines. 

Ito ay matapos ianunsyo ng LTO ang pag-impose ng cap sa rate ng mga driving schools simula  April 15 na lilimitahan lamang sa P3,500 para sa mga motorsiklo at P5,000 para sa light vehicles.

Ayon kay Tugade ito daw ay apila ng ating mga kababayan dahil sa mataas na sinisingil ng mga driving schools. 

Sa pangunguna ni Ms. Marie Franz Ochoco kasama pa ang mga AADSPI officers na sina  JC Ochoa, Froilan Aguirre, Sherryl Anne Remogat Jow Rodriguez at iba pang mga may-ari ng iba't ibang deiving schools ay pinaaabot nila ang kanilang apila kay LTO Chief Tugade.

" We, the Association of Accredited Driving Schools of the Philippines, Inc., (AADSPI) firmly believes that having a drivers licence is a privilege and not a right. We are committed to the advocacy of Road Safety and we fully support our regulating body- the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in its initiatives to educate and train our Filipino drivers.

Due to LTOs Memorandum Circular No. JMT-2023-2390 that imposes training rates, additional qualifications for accreditation, and requires to use a new system with insufficient preparation to its stakeholders, our industry faces operational and financial challenges that may effect the quality of services we deliver.

Our plea to LTO is a postponement of its implementation until we, the industry  will be greatly affected together with our Assistant Secretary and LTO Technical Working Group be able to discuss and revisit the details of the policy in hopes of reaching  a harmonious balance that would benefit all stakeholders involved, including  the transacting public.

AADSPI wishes to continue working  with LTO to address all other concerns and find practical solutions that would further improve the quality of  driver’s education and training in the Philippines.”

Ang pagbabago raw na ito ay makakaapekto ng husto sa driving schools kaya naman gusto nilang magkaroon ng boses sa pamamagitan ng naturang presscon. 

“ Gusto po nating magkaroon ng boses sa ating ASec Tugade upang maging mas makakabuti para sa industriya ng driving schools at Land Transportation Office at para sa ating mga customers,” sabi pa ni Ms. Marie.

Gusto raw ng grupo na idefer ang implementation na magaganap na sa April 15.  Wala na raw panahon dahil next week ay holyweek na at kalaban nga nila ay oras.

“ We really want to convey our sentiments to our Asec Tugade. Actually it’s a good news that he invited us yesterday afternoon for our tentative meeting on April 12. We pray na madefer muna yung implementation until we discuss and revisit it.”

Mabigat nga naman para sa mga driving  schools ang nakapataw na penalty sakaling hindi masunod ang implementaayon na ito.

1st offense: P50,000 fine and suspension of six months

2nd offense: P100,000 fine and one year suspension

3rd offense: revocation of accreditation issued to the driving school.

Dagdag pa ni Ms. Ochoco, hindi rin naman biro ang pagpapatakbo ng isang driving school lalu na ang utilities at maintanance dito tulad ng renta, tubig, kuryenta at iba pa. Hindi rin aniya maiiwasan na magrequest ng added program ang kanilang mga customers na aniya ay karapatan din naman nila lalu kung kaya naman nila at makakatulong na mapadali ang kanilang kaalaman sa pagdadrive. Positibo ang AADSPI na papakinggan ang kanilang hinaing ni Asec. Tugade.