NO TO COLORUM. Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. (center); DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista (2nd from left), and MMDA acting chair Don Artes (2nd from right) sign a memorandum of agreement to intensify joint operations against colorum vehicles in simple rites at Camp Crame, Quezon City on Wednesday (April 17, 2024). Under the pact, the DILG, through its Special Project Group of the Philippine National Police, the DOTr, and the MMDA, shall create a Joint Task Force to conduct traffic, clearing, and anti-colorum operations within Metro Manila. (PNA photo by Lloyd Caliwan)
MANILA – The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Transportation (DOTr), and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Wednesday fortified their partnership in going after colorum or unregistered public utility vehicles (PUVs) in Metro Manila.
Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr., Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, and MMDA acting chair Romando Artes signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the measure in simple rites at Camp Crame, Quezon City.
Under the MOA, the DILG, through the Special Project Group (SPG) of the Philippine National Police (PNP), the DOTr, and the MMDA, shall create a Joint Task Force (JTF) to conduct traffic, clearing, and anti-colorum operations within Metro Manila, subject to existing laws, rules and regulations.
Each party shall designate sufficient personnel from their offices to form part of the JTF.
The members of JTF, through the functions of their offices and of the offices or agencies attached to them, will coordinate and collaborate in traffic, clearing, and all kinds of anti-colorum operations within Metro Manila.
The members of the JTF will have the authority to determine transportation violations within Metro Manila.
“To effectuate this Memorandum of Agreement, the members of the JTF will have the authority to use and issue Violation or Citation Tickets under existing laws, rules and regulations. For this purpose, they shall be deputized by the DILG, the DOTr, and the MMDA, when necessary. The DILG-SPG, the DOTr, and the MMDA task force members may engage in other acts and operations relevant to and related to their primary functions,” the MOA read.
Abalos said the PNP would be essential in providing manpower during these operations against colorum PUVs nationwide.
“When the MMDA approached me, I tapped the PNP to help them in their operations. This resulted in the apprehension of 100 colorum vehicles and arrest of four persons from March 12 to April 15. The coordination between the MMDA, DOTr and the DILG is very effective," Abalos said in a press conference.
Artes, meanwhile, said this partnership would augment their manpower on the streets.
“This is a big help to our traffic enforcers, especially if they would be assisted by the team from the PNP. Since then, we were able to boost our operations and this is a big step to wipe out colorum vehicles that affect the livelihood of our legitimate transport operators and drivers and prey on our commuters," Artes said.
Bautista also welcomed the move as a solution to the complaints of transport groups and commuters.
“This agreement is one of the important solutions in helping our drivers and operators under the public utility vehicle modernization program. They have been complaining that they lose up to 35 percent of their revenues due to colorum vehicles. At the same time, our commuters are protected because we do not know if these colorum vehicles are well maintained," he said.
He added that this would also help ease traffic congestion in Metro Manila.
Bautista said illegal or colorum PUVs take about 35 percent of revenue meant for registered PUVs.
“If we can decrease 90 percent of colorum operations, this is of big help to the legitimate transport operators and a huge relief to the usual traffic flow,” he said.
After the April 30 consolidation deadline, he said the JTF would also apprehend those who did not comply with the consolidation requirement of the government’s Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP).
“Those who will fail to consolidate after the April 30 deadline that they will be considered colorum and will be among that will be apprehended,” he said.
Artes said the task force is a “huge step” in the campaign against colorum vehicles due to the additional manpower and resources by the three agencies involved -- DOTr, MMDA and the DILG.
“Sa pagsasanib-puwersa ng tatlong ahensiya, kasama ang PNP, mas mapapalawak pa ang operasyon kontra colorum. Asahan ninyo ang mas pinaigting na panghuhuli sa loob ng mas maikling panahon (Through the combined forces of the three agencies, with the Philippine National Police, we will be able to expand the fight against colorum. Rest assured that we will intensify apprehensions as soon as possible),” Artes said.
Under the JTF, the MMDA, DOTr, and the DILG will coordinate and collaborate in the conduct of traffic, clearing and all kinds of anti-colorum operations within the National Capital Region.
Members of the JTF will have the authority to determine violations related to transportation and to issue citation tickets.
These enforcers will also be deputized by the DILG, the DOTr, and the MMDA when necessary.
Fines for colorum violations range from PHP6,000 to PHP1 million, depending on the type of vehicle. (PNA)
