LTFRB sets penalties for sexual harassment in PUVs

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has set penalties for cases of gender-based sexual harassment in public utility vehicles.

The fines range from P5,000 to P15,000, as well as suspension of the vehicle’s operation and revocation of the Certificate of Public Convenience, according to LTFRB’s Memorandum Circular No. 2023-016.

PUV operators were also instructed to display inside their vehicles signage like “BAWAL ANG BASTOS!” (LTFRB Memorandum Circular No. 2023-016) and “ISUMBONG SA LTFRB! 24/7 Hotline: 1342 Email: complaints@ltfrb.gov.ph.”

The government may also suspend or cancel the license of the PUV driver involved in sexual harassment cases. 

The LTFRB took its cue from the Safe Spaces Act, which penalizes acts such as cursing, wolf-whistling, catcalling, leering, intrusive gazing, taunting, pursing, unwanted invitations, misogynistic, transphobic, homophobic, and sexist slurs, and persistent unwanted comments on one’s appearance, among others.

“We are directing our PUV operators, drivers, conductors, and their employees, through this memorandum circular, to make sure that safe space is protected at all times against sexual harassment of any form,” LTFRB Chairman Teofilo Guadiz III said in a statement.

It will be their responsibility to prevent and report the commission of these acts against their passengers and, more importantly, make sure that they are not the ones who will commit these acts themselves because the consequences will be harsh.”