THE Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) announced that the jeepney driver who body shamed a passenger has been fined P15,000.
In a June 25 order made public on Wednesday, LTFRB-National Capital Region (NCR) director Zona Russet Tamayo asked the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to suspend the license of the driver found to have subjected a female passenger to humiliation in Parañaque City earlier this month.
“The Board hereby recommends to the LTO that the driver’s license of Mr. Arneto Palisan be suspended in accordance with Republic Act 4136 (Land Transportation and Traffic Code),” said Tamayo.
A fine of P15,000 was also imposed on Palisan as well as the registered operators of his jeepney: Flora Magtibay, Romeo Guerrero and Double A Transport Corp.
The operators were fined for employing a discourteous driver, failure to convey passengers, and for the driver’s and his conductor’s unwarranted comments about the passenger’s physical appearance.
The LTFRB-NCR said it was “clear as the day that the driver, his conductor as well as the operator is at fault in this instance.”
“The act of the driver and his conductor is not only abominable but has no place in a civilized society. The degradation and humiliation suffered by the complainant coupled with the brazen admission and unapologetic behavior of the driver and his conductor deserved scant penalty from this office,” it said.
“Not only must the full force of this office’s powers be implemented but also the contumacious act of the driver and the conductor be condemned,” the agency added.
According to the complainant, the driver body-shamed her aboard his jeepney bound for Baclaran on June 8.
Palisan and his wife, who served as the conductor, allegedly told her that fat people were not allowed on the jeepney.
