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 col
laborate 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 effecti
ve,” 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.
Source: Philippines
News Agency