Déjà vu of a déjà vu?

A strange headline for a column?

Not if you have been covering the motoring beat since the time when it wasn’t much of a beat to speak of.

The TV show Motoring Today was started more than 30 years ago by the late, Pocholo Ramirez, then dubbed as the country’s “racing living legend” and myself. Aside from covering local and foreign motor sports events, we kept our relevance by also being very much into issues on transportation and traffic management.

Vehicle traffic was already a problem then when we started, though not in this unmanageable magnitude but the issue of colorum or illegal public utility vehicles was always on top of every administration’s agenda.

I myself have spent quite an amount of broadcast time interviewing the metro’s top traffic managers from the PNP, the MMDA, the LTO, LTFRB, etc., name the government agency and I’m sure there will be a lot of these in our three decades of archives—interviews on what the government is doing to eradicate the problem of colorum vehicles.

And somehow each administration had a different kind of a program, I mean different name of a program trying to solve the same problem with almost always with the same result—nothing of consequence. 

And again this problem of since more than 30 years ago comes to the present government’s consciousness as the present administration is coming up with another “honest to goodness” campaign to finally put a halt to it.

Motoring Today was in a media briefing regarding the launch of an intensified war against colorum vehicles by the newly formed ‘Task Force Kamao’ in response to the directive of the President to implement a nationwide crackdown against these illegal vehicles.

The task force will be led by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) as it has mandate over public utility vehicles, while the other key agencies include the Land Transportation Office (LTO), PNP Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) and the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) for purposes of enforcement. 

“This would be the first time that an inter-agency effort would be put together to fight colorums on a nationwide scale,” remarked DOTr Undersecretary Tim Orbos during the briefing. “While there are existing campaigns, partnering with enforcement and intelligence agencies is necessary in order to address the problem, which is similar with the drug problem of the country in some respects” he added. 

The LTFRB warned operators of illegal vehicles that with more agencies involved and more coordinated efforts, apprehensions are expected to increase. Chairman Martin Delgra III refuted claims that colorum vehicles are just addressing the demand of commuters especially in the provinces. “We have more than 22,000 bus units all over the country, most of them in the provinces. And despite the sufficient number, colorums still abound to the dismay of legal franchise holders.” said the no nonsense chairman as the LTFRB is currently conducting an inventory of buses nationwide to protect those with franchises, and make sure that routes are being served. 

It was also announced during the media briefing that given the extent of the problem, agencies such as the Department of National Defense, National Telecommunications Commission, Armed Forces of the Philippines as well as the Department of Justice and the Department of Interior and Local Government were also tapped for intelligence gathering.

Indeed for me this is a déjà vu of several déjà vu moments. But will this come out differently from the other similarly media hyped campaigns of the past?

Let’s give it a chance. They might be able to do it this time.

It’s park now, pay later in the metro

You can now park and pay later in the metro. But it can cost you a lot—that is if you parked illegally.

Simply because catching illegally parked vehicles using CCTV, handheld mobile devices and digital cameras will soon become a policy of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

It has been reported that members of the Metro Manila Council, which is composed of 17 mayors are set to sign a resolution allowing the MMDA to enforce its No Physical Contact Apprehension policy and use the CCTV cameras in catching motorists who will illegally park their vehicles on sidewalks and in no parking zones on both secondary and major streets of the metropolis.

MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim has considered the no contact apprehension policy with the use of 300 CCTV cameras installed in strategic areas, digital cameras and other handheld devices as very effective in catching moving violations of erring motorists and would similarly be as effective in the drive to clear the streets of the metro of illegally parked vehicles, a known major contributing factor to the worsening traffic situation in the metro. The scheme also gets to avoid confrontations or heated arguments during clearing operations. It requires just the photos prior to sending the summons or notice to the vehicle’s owner and a stiff P500 fine for illegal parking.

The MMDA has listed areas where parking are prohibited, namely; all national roads in Metro Manila; primary and secondary roads of cities and municipalities in Metro Manila that are: within six meters of any intersection or curved lane; within four meters of driveways or entrances to any fire station, hospital, clinic and other similar establishment; within four meters of fire hydrants; on the roadside of any legally parked vehicle; on pedestrian crosswalks; in front of any authorized driveway; on sidewalks, paths and alleys not intended for parking; at the foot or near bridges and at any place where official signs have been erected prohibiting parking and/or declared No Parking Zone by the MMDA such as the Mabuhay Lane, and Other areas duly declared as “No Parking Zone” provided by law or ordinances.

As I said, “You can park now and pay (the fine) later. But it can be very expensive. It can also finally cost you your license.”

Don’t say Motoring Today didn’t warn you.

Multi Brand Test Drive Festival

A “one-stop shop” where you can find all the top selling brand new car models all in one venue is the 2018 Auto Focus Summer Multi Brand Test Drive Festival presented by Phoenix Fuels with Pulse Technology. 

Once again we will gather all together at the MOA Concert Grounds from April 13-15 the top of mind choices of car buyers and auto enthusiasts for a more convenient head-to-head comparison in line with the norm, “test drive it, before you buy it.”

Admission and test drives are free and the public will also have the chance to win thousands and thousands worth of fuel coupons from the random raffles that would be held all throughout the three-day weekend courtesy of the event’s “Official Fuel”—Phoenix Fuels with Pulse Technology.

You can expect to see and test drive the latest and brand new models from Ford, Honda, Jeep, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota…till you drop.

Happy Motoring!!!

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