The Senate has approved on third and final reading a bill which seeks to provide Internet access and clean restrooms in transportation terminals nationwide.
Senate Bill 1749, otherwise known as an ?Act to Improve Land Transportation Terminals, Stations, Stops, Resto Areas and Roll-on/Roll-off Terminals” was approved with 18 affirmative votes, no negative vote and zero abstention.
Senator Grace Poe, primary author and sponsor of SBN 1749, said the measure sought to mandate the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), in coordination with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and other concerned agencies, to provide free Internet access in these terminals.
According to Poe, once the bill is passed into law, operators or administrators of land transport terminals, stations, stops, rest areas and “roro” terminals would be required to provide free WiFi access and sanitary facilities for passengers.
Under the bill, collection of fees from passengers for the use of the facilities in transport terminals will be prohibited. This, however, does not cover luxe comfort rooms.
“Seventy-nine percent of domestic travelers in 2016 spent around P476 per trip for land transportation. Let us repay them with transport terminals that have clean toilets free of charge, a decent breast feeding station and free WiFi or Internet,” Poe said.
Poe cited records from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) which showed that 42 million Filipinos or 58 percent of the population aged 15 and above had traveled in 2016. She added that PSA records showed domestic tourism expenditures had reached P2.108 billion in 2016.
“Along tens of thousands of kilometers of lengthy roads all around the country, land transportation terminals, stations, stops and rest areas are like sanctuaries for travelers using land transportation,” Poe said.
