‘Lack of clarity’ on truck lanes breeding ‘kotong’

ALMENDRAS

As it looks for solutions to the congestion at the Manila ports, Malacañang found itself dealing with another problem on the road: Extortionist traffic officers preying on truckers.

Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras on Friday said an anti-kotong (mulcting) task force had been formed to ensure that no traffic marshal would take advantage of the “lack of clarity on what is a truck route or what is an express lane.”

He was referring to the different roads or lanes designated by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and local government units to restrict truck operations in order to ease traffic.

Almendras said that in a three-and-a-half hour Palace meeting with truckers, shippers, port operators, and other government officials on Friday, it became apparent that not all traffic officers understand the various government measures related to trucking.

“We’re going to be launching an invigorated anti-kotong operation particularly (on officers) targeting these trucks,’’ he said in a press briefing. “We are setting up a special head office to ensure that we will be able to respond to the trucks that will be inappropriately detained or inappropriately arrested, to make sure that we can explain to the traffic enforcers and to the other people that during these next two weeks, we want to move as much cargo as we can from the port.”

The government would “face this challenge head on” with the new task force that would be under the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), he said, adding that Philippine National Police chief Director General Alan Purisima had assigned Chief Supt. Allen Bantolo of the NCRPO to be part of the effort.

Earlier, Almendras announced that  “drastic steps” would be taken to address the pileup of freight containers in the ports as a result of truck ban imposed by the Manila City government since February.

The measures include a two-week “special privilege window” where the MMDA and the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board would be issuing special tags and permit to allow trucks to take the “last mile” and the 24-hour express truck lanes.

The scheme will be in effect from Sept. 8 to Sept. 22 to move unclaimed containers, many of which had been kept at the Manila ports for almost three months. By Oct. 1, owners of unclaimed containers would be fined P5,000 for each day their shipments would remain in the ports.