Transportation fare assistance program for poor students

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A total of 57 selected poor students of the Iloilo City Community College (ICCC) here are recipients of the special Fare Assistance Program with a memorandum of agreement forged on Monday, March 3, 2014 between the Iloilo City Government, transport groups and the ICCC to implement the program.

City councilor RLeone Geroche said the program has the tacit approval of city mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog who is now in an official trip to Toronto and Calgary in Canada.

Geroche said the program is in cooperation with three transport organizations here such as the Iloilo City Alliance of Drivers Association (ICADA), Iloilo City Alliance of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association (ICAJODA) and Iloilo City Loop Alliance of Operators and Drivers Association (ICLAJODA) whose presidents vowed commitment to public service by helping the poor students go to school.

The city councilor said he had conducted a survey on the reason why some students of ICCC failed to attend their classes and the main reason given was that they do not have enough fare money.

Geroche, chairman of the SP committees on public utilities and environmental protection, said he met the transport association presidents to get their commitment in helping the poor students.

“This is just a small contribution from small people willing to help and we don’t even need rich people to help send our children to school.This is our own initiative to help,” Geroche said.

Under the scheme, selected students will be given a special identification card issued by the office of the city councilor and signed by the city mayor. Public jeepneys participating in the program will have stickers on their front shield and only two students at a given time will be accommodated by the jeepneys for free transport ride.

Geroche said that most of the selected students have double or triple rides to reach the ICCC. The students can ride the jeepneys from their residence to the ICCC and back.

Now on its second year, ICCC is offering two four-year college courses to more than 400 qualified but poor students of the city. The city government subsidized the courses such as Bachelor on Office Management and Bachelor on Travel Management.

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