DOTr's Dizon orders filing of case vs bus conductor who allegedly tasered PWD

Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon on Monday directed the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to file a case against a bus conductor who allegedly tasered a person with disability (PWD).

“Kaso ‘yan. Criminal [case] ‘yun. Hindi na natin kailangan ‘yung biktima ang magkaso diyan. Ang gobyerno puwede na mismong mag-file and I will direct now LTFRB to file a case through the prosecutor, through the DOJ, against the conductor,” he said in a press conference.

(That’s a case. It’s criminal [case]. We don’t need the victim to file it. The government itself can already file the case, and I will now direct the LTFRB to file a case through the prosecutor, through the DOJ, against the conductor.)

This came after a 25-year-old PWD was ganged up on and tased after he allegedly bit passengers inside a Precious Grace Transport bus traveling then on EDSA on June 9. 

Dizon said the license of the driver and the conductor have been suspended.

Meanwhile, LTFRB chairperson Teofilo Guadiz III said they have issued a show cause order asking the operator and the conductor to explain the incident.

“Responsibilidad ng lahat ng nag-o-operate ng PUV… na pangalagaan ang safety nu'ng mga pasahero. Kasama ‘yan sa responsibilidad. Kaya ka binibigyan ng prangkisa, kaya ka binibigyan ng pagkakataon na kumita,” Dizon said.

(It is the responsibility of everyone operating a PUV to ensure the safety of passengers. That’s part of the responsibility. That’s why you are given a franchise, why you are given the opportunity to earn.)

“At dito sa nangyari dito, hindi ginawa ‘yun ng Precious Grace Bus Company kasama nu'ng kanyang conductor, nu'ng bus na ‘yon, at nu'ng driver,” he added.

(And in what happened here, the Precious Grace Bus Company, along with its conductor, that specific bus, and its driver, failed to do that.) —KG, GMA Integrated News