BANAUE, Ifugao – Legitimate bus owners regionwide want the Flying Squad of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Cordillera office of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC-CAR) to intensify the agency’s anti-colorum campaign in order to curb the proliferation of green plate buses, coasters and vans plying provincial routes that directly compete with their legal operations.
Rafael Imayaho, general manager of Ohayami Trans, said the unabated operation of colorum buses, coasters and vans in the provinces in the different parts of Northern and Central Luzon have significantly affected their legitimate operations and have rendered the public transport sector no longer a good business endeavour.
“We urge concerned government agencies to heed our long overdue concern against the proliferation of colorum vehicles plying the provincial routes that are in direct competition with our legal operations. We want the commuting public to have a safe and secure travel being provided by legitimate public utility vehicles,” Imayaho stressed.
He explained legitimate public utility vehicle owners are religiously paying regulatory fees and that type strictly adhered to government rules and regulations governing the transport sector that is why they also deserve prompt and timely actions to their legitimate concerns that affect their operations.
Imayaho disclosed their complaint against the proliferation of green plate buses, coasters and vans were already raised to concerned LTO officials which were subsequently referred to the DOTC-CAR regional office where several hearings were done but concrete actions have yet to be taken in order to rid the region with numerous colorum vehicles.
Imayaho claimed legitimate bus operators are constrained to substantially lower their prevailing bus fares just to sustain their already downscale operations considering that colorum buses, vans and coasters are offering very low fares in their respective routes.
He said massive anti-colorum operations must be done by the concerned government agencies and deputized law enforcers in order to rid the region with colorum vehicles which is nost supposed to be the case considering that passengers should patronize legitimate transport operations.
Imayaho said bus operators from the different provinces who are now greatly affected by the colorum operations are willing to cooperate with DOTC-CAR and LTO officials to pinpoint to them the different staging areas of the colorum vehicles in the provinces and in Baguio city so that there will be confiscations and impounding of colorum vehicles which should not ply the roads.
According to him, the DOTC-CAR should strictly implement its Joint Administrative Order No. 1, especially against colorum vehicles in order to bring back the profitability of the transport sector in the region and for local residents and visitors to be guaranteed safe and secure travel.
Imayaho appealed to passengers intending to travel to the provinces to continue to patronize legitimate buses plying the provincial routes instead of taking the risk of using colorum vehicles considering that they are assured of safe and secure travel in their desired destinations from their points of origin. By Dexter A. See