MOA on drivers’ academy signed

THE Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board ( LTFRB) with the Land Transportation Office ( LTO) and other partner institutions signed on Friday the Memorandum of Agreement on the Public Utility Drivers’ Academy which opens in July.

The academy will train existing and upcoming public utility vehicle ( PUV) drivers in the country using four modules over two sessions a week, the LTFRB said.

“If the driver fails a certain module, he will only take that module again,” LTFRB Board Member and Spokesman Aileen Lizada said.

The modules will consist of lectures and examinations on Certificate of Public Convenience Terms and Conditions by the LTFRB; Road Safety by the Ateneo School of Government; Traffic Signs and Pavement Markings by the LTO; and Road Rage and Anger Management by the De La Salle University Psychology Department.

Transport network vehicle service drivers will also be covered by the training, Lizada said.

The training is free and the examinations require a grade of 75 to pass. Those who will pass the training will be given an ID which has a one year validity.

“We are thinking of what will be good for our commuters,” Lizada said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation is set to sign the Omnibus Franchising Guidelines this Monday.

Transport group PISTON said that it lodge a protest over the PUV modernization program embodied in the OFG.

According to Lizada, George San Mateo, PISTON president, said the group will wait for a copy of the OFG then dialogue with the LTFRB.