MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation-Special Action and Intelligence Committee for Transportation (DOTr-SAICT) is intensifying efforts to apprehend “colorum” 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’s primary challenge this peak travel season was dealing with unregistered vehicles.
READ: Special permits issued for Holy Week rush
“In times like these, when demand for [public] transportation is higher than legitimate transport buses in the area, that’s when colorum vehicles show up,” Guadiz said, in a mix of Filipino and English.
In preparation for the expected surge of colorum vehicles on Metro Manila’s major roads, DOTr-SAICT informed INQUIRER.net that they are enhancing the implementation of their anti-colorum campaign.
“When it comes to our anti-colorum operation, we are conducting them from morning until evening… We patrol terminals in various areas to ensure that we apprehend any colorum operator attempting to evade us,” Rayson dela Torre, Officer In Charge (OIC) of SAICT’s Special Operations Group, said in a phone interview with INQUIRER.net.
Dela Torre mentioned that SAICT operatives are monitoring the Edsa busway and passenger terminals in Cubao, Manila, Caloocan, and Parañaque 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.
READ: Number coding suspended March 27-29 – MMDA
“First, colorum vehicles do not have legitimate terminals. They just wait for passengers on sidewalks,” he said.
“Second, those vehicles are private and we would notice that their license plates are private. They also do not have body markings,” the official added.
He noted that such vehicles are dangerous for passengers because they do not have personal passenger accident insurance.
“Passengers are not insured if they use colorum vehicles. Public transport vehicles, on the other hand, have insurance coverage during their travels,” dela Torre explained.
Colorum vehicles may be reported to SAICT’s hotline at 0920-964-3687.
READ: Holy Week reflections