MMDA: 13 of 21 women bus drivers pass TESDA test

MANILA, Philippines –  Thirteen out of 21 female bus drivers hurdled an examination conducted by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said yesterday.

According to MMDA spokesperson Tina Velasco, TESDA will give a re-assessment exam to the other eight trainees who did not make it.

Velasco said the successful examinees are undergoing recruitment processing by three bus companies – Jam Transit, Philippine Tourister and RRCG – that have signified their intention to hire them.

MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino earlier said the women drivers who pass the TESDA skill examination “will be deployed in the first week of March. There were already some bus operators who have agreed to hire them.” He said the MMDA only facilitated the recruitment and training of the female bus drivers.

According to Tolentino, the female bus drivers are college graduates and hold foreign driver’s licenses. “These drivers are really good… Once they are deployed, the accident rate will surely decrease,” he said.

Tolentino said the MMDA is still trying to convince bus companies that will hire the female drivers to give them a monthly salary instead of just giving them a commission. “We would like them to have monthly salaries but as of now, we would allow the bus companies to implement their own regulations,” he said.

Earlier, the MMDA said it is willing to exempt bus units driven by female drivers from the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) or the number coding scheme, and “will study other incentives and rewards to bus companies that will try this scheme.”

Tolentino said he had already sent a letter to Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board chairman Nelson Laluces, strongly urging the agency to consider requiring bus operators to employ women drivers to comprise not less than 50 percent of the total number of their drivers.

MMDA figures show that a total of 260 male drivers figured in fatal road accidents last year, while women drivers figured in only 60.

For the same period, agency records also showed that a total of 9,526 men figured in non-fatal road accidents while women figured in only 3,605.

Tolentino said contrary to public perception, women can be trained to handle big vehicles such as passenger buses and drive long hours on the road. He argued that most modern buses now are equipped with power steering for easy driving

“We should not underestimate what women can do. Provided with sufficient training, they can easily handle these city buses,” Tolentino said.