THE Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group has impounded 210 colorum vehicles as it shifted to higher gear its operations against PUVs— public utility vehicles—that have no franchises on orders of President Rodrigo Duterte.
HPG director Chief Supt. Arnel Escobal said the unit had impounded 119 colorum buses and 91 colorum passenger vans.
Most of the impounded vehicles came from the Mimaropa region B from where 51 buses and 21 vans were apprehended.
The seizure coincided with the announcement by Inter-agency Council for Traffic (I-ACT) chief Thomas Orbos of the launching of Task Force Kamao and reminding the public of the nature of its legitimate operations to ensure that no enterprising personnel would take advantage of the campaign versus colorum vehicles.
Orbos said there would be no anti-colorum operations, whether Task Force Kamao-initiated or not, without the presence of a duly-authorized personnel from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.
“Since Task Force Kamao is inter-agency, there must be a representative from LTFRB every time there is an operation. Nobody from the partner agencies can apprehend a colorum vehicle if there’s no one from LTFRB, them being the lead agency on public utility vehicles,” he explained.
Among the partner agencies of Kamao are the Land Transportation Office, Metro Manila Development Authority, Philippine National Police- Highway Patrol Group, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
“The LTFRB has the complete and updated database of legal franchises and their accredited number of units. Through that, the I-ACT can easily pinpoint and apprehend personalities behind colorum activities,” said Orbos.
According to Orbos, the campaign against colorum vehicles would be relentless not only in Metro Manila but in the entire country.
“The nationwide crackdown against colorum vehicles is to ensure the safety of riding public and to identify those opportunist individuals who are using colorum PUVs only for their own good,” he added.
A motor vehicle is considered operating as “colorum” under any of the following circumstances:
a. A private motor vehicle operating as a PUV but without proper authority from the LTFRB;
b. A PUV operating outside of its approved route or area without a prior permit from the Board or outside the exceptions provided under existing memorandum circulars;
c. A PUV operating differently from its authorized denomination (ex. Those approved as school service but operating as UV express, or those approved as tourist bus transport but operating as city or provincial bus); and
d. A PUV with suspended or cancelled CPC and the Decision/Order of suspension or cancellation is executor; and
e. A PUV with expired CPC and without a pending application for extension of validity timely filed before the Board.
President Duterte has ordered a crackdown on all colorum vehicles nationwide, including arresting their drivers and operators, after visiting the families of the victims of the recent bus accident in Mindoro.