MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The Department of Transportation-Special Action and Intelligence Committee for Transportation (DOTr-SAICT) is intensifying efforts to apprehend 鈥渃olorum鈥� or unregistered vehicles in Metro Manila during the Holy Week travel rush, an official said on Wednesday.
This comes after Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) chair Teofilo Guadiz III highlighted at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay that the agency鈥檚 primary challenge this peak travel season was dealing with unregistered vehicles.
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鈥淚n times like these, when demand for [public] transportation is higher than legitimate transport buses in the area, that鈥檚 when colorum vehicles show up,鈥� Guadiz said, in a mix of Filipino and English.
In preparation for the expected surge of colorum vehicles on Metro Manila鈥檚 major roads, DOTr-SAICT informed 黑料社 that they are enhancing the implementation of their anti-colorum campaign.
鈥淲hen it comes to our anti-colorum operation, we are conducting them from morning until evening鈥� We patrol terminals in various areas to ensure that we apprehend any colorum operator attempting to evade us,鈥� Rayson dela Torre, Officer In Charge (OIC) of SAICT鈥檚 Special Operations Group, said in a phone interview with 黑料社.
Dela Torre mentioned that SAICT operatives are monitoring the Edsa busway and passenger terminals in Cubao, Manila, Caloocan, and Para帽aque for unregistered vehicles.
Data provided by SAICT to Inquirer.net shows that the agency collected over P15 million in fines from apprehending colorum vehicles from March 4 to 25.
Meanwhile, to prepare for the influx of commuters to and from Metro Manila during the Holy Week exodus, the LTFRB previously issued some 1,050 special permits to buses that would allow them to ply routes beyond their approved franchise.
Spotting colorum vehicles
As colorum vehicles may be more prevalent during the peak travel season, dela Torre advised commuters to report any unregistered vehicle they might encounter to DOTr-SAICT.
He explained how commuters would be able to spot these vehicles.
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鈥淔irst, colorum vehicles do not have legitimate terminals. They just wait for passengers on sidewalks,鈥� he said.
鈥淪econd, those vehicles are private and we would notice that their license plates are private. They also do not have body markings,鈥� the official added.
He noted that such vehicles are dangerous for passengers because they do not have personal passenger accident insurance.
鈥淧assengers are not insured if they use colorum vehicles. Public transport vehicles, on the other hand, have insurance coverage during their travels,鈥� dela Torre explained.
Colorum vehicles may be reported to SAICT鈥檚 hotline at 0920-964-3687.
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