ILOILO City – As All Saints’ Day (Nov. 1) and All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2) draw near, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Western Visayas is stepping up its campaign against “colorum” vehicles. These are unregistered or franchise-less vehicles that operate like public utility vehicles (PUV).
LTO Region 6 deployed personnel to various transport terminals and highways as early as Oct. 22 to apprehend colorum vehicles aside from checking the road-worthiness of all PUVs, according to Rizza Otayde, spokesperson of the regional office.
Drivers of colorum vehicles would be issued with Temporary Operators’ Permit (TOP).
Pursuant to Memorandum Circular No. 515-2004, TOP is used in LTO apprehension of all violations and it is strictly required to be issued to the apprehended driver/operator at the site and time of apprehension.
“LTO-6 director Roland Ramos stresses the importance of safe travel this Halloween. The public should avoid colorum vehicles. Since these vehicles are not registered and insured, kon ano ang matabo sa dalanon wala gid lagson sa ila,” said Otayde.
LTO-6 observed that colorum vehicles usually operate during special occasions when lots of people travel.
“Mostly, sila nagagwa kon kaagahon and like sining Undas, nagahingalit,” said Otayde.
Operators and drivers of colorum vehicles face stiffer penalties under Joint Administrative Order (JAO) No. 2014-01 of the Department of Transportation.
COLORUM IF…
Under this JAO, a vehicle is colorum under the following circumstances:
* a private motor vehicle operating as a PUV but without proper authority from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB)
* a PUV operating outside of its approved route or area without a prior permit from the Board or outside the exceptions provided under existing memorandum circulars
* a PUV operating differently from its authorized denomination (ex. those approved as school service but operating as UV express, or those approved as tourist bus transport but operating as city or provincial bus)
* a PUV with suspended or cancelled Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC) and the Decision/Order of suspension or cancellation is executory
* a PUV with expired CPC and without a pending application for extension of validity timely filed before the Board
PENALTIES
The penalties spelled out under JAO No. 2014-01 for the first offense are the following:
* for buses – P1 million
* for trucks – P200,000
* for jeepneys – P50,000
* for vans – P200,000
* for sedans – P120,000
* for motorcycles – P6,000
Aside from the fine, these colorum vehicles would also be impounded for a minimum of three months, said Otayde.
For the second offense, the penalties are the following:
* revocation of all CPCs (entire fleet) of the operator
* disqualification of the operator – in case of a corporation, all its stockholders and directors – from operating any kind of public land transportation
* blacklisting of all authorized units (entire fleet) of the operator from being used as PUV
* revocation of the registration of all authorized units (entire fleet) of the operator
In determining the frequency of offenses, the LTFRB counts offenses against operators and not against a particular motor vehicle or CPC.
Hence, the second apprehension of a vehicle belonging to the same operator, regardless of whether the first and second vehicle apprehended are included in the same or different CPCs, shall be counted as second offense.
Also, if a private motor vehicle operating as a PUV but without proper authority from the LTFRB is apprehended, the LTFRB shall, in addition to the abovementioned fines, impounding and penalty, disqualify the registered owner – in case of a corporation, all its stockholders and directors – from operating any kind of public land transportation.
Otayde saod LTO is also continuously enforcing Republic Act 4136 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code and especially its provision against overloading./PN
