LTFRB: Unconsolidated PUVs apprehended starting today

MANILA, Philippines —  The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) will start apprehending today jeepneys that failed to meet the consolidation requirement.

LTFRB Chairman Teofilo Guadiz III said that the 15-day grace period since the April 30 deadline is over, effectively making over 10,000 jeepney units nationwide colorum vehicles.

The figure includes 1,900 unconsolidated units in Metro Manila alone, which will be considered as illegally operating as their franchises have lapsed.

“We can now flag down and we can apprehend drivers or vehicles because the grace period we had given them had already lapsed, so that those that were unconsolidated can no longer travel,” Guadiz said.

He added that the LTFRB had already issued show cause orders for the unconsolidated operators and drivers, and that the agency could begin apprehensions.

Drivers could face a one-year suspension of their license, as well as a hefty fine of P50,000 in penalties and 30-day impounding of their vehicles if caught in colorum operations.

The LTFRB said that it would require consolidated units to have their documents posted on their windshields for proper identification of vehicles.

Three to four critical areas in Metro Manila do not have consolidated units on their routes, according to Guadiz. This will be addressed by getting units from other routes to serve the affected areas.

“What we did was to issue a special order on the routes to fill those that were not able to have consolidated jeepneys. We had already fixed it,” he said.

Transport groups Manibela and Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (PISTON) are still asking the Supreme Court to suspend the government’s public utility vehicle modernization program (PUVMP).

The groups are asking the SC to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) to allow unconsolidated operators to continue plying their routes.

Guadiz said they would respect the decision of the court if it does issue a TRO.

“We will allow the return of the 1,900 unconsolidated jeepney units to the roads,” he added.

Deputized

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has deputized traffic enforcers from some cities in Metro Manila to enforce traffic laws.

The MMDA had deputized traffic enforcers from the cities of Malabon, Mandaluyong, Valenzuela, San Juan, Navotas, Parañaque, Pasay, Pasig, Quezon City and the municipality of Pateros, according to information from the agency.

The MMDA had also issued identification cards to the undisclosed number of enforcers.

The delegation of traffic law enforcement is pursuant to an SC ruling in July last year that ordered local government units in Metro Manila to stop issuing traffic violation tickets and instead let the MMDA do the job through its single ticketing system.

Deputizing local traffic enforcers is the MMDA’s way of obeying the decision since its current manpower of 2,500 traffic enforcers is not enough to enforce traffic laws in the metropolis, according to MMDA acting Chairman Romando Artes.

The agency has yet to confirm or deny if the delegation of Metro Manila traffic enforcers is related to the apparent crackdown on jeepneys that failed to undergo franchise consolidation under the government’s PUVMP.

However, during its road clearing operations yesterday in areas in the cities of Pasay and Parañaque, particularly along EDSA, Macapagal Boulevard, NIA Road, Sucat Road and Tramo, MMDA enforcers issued tickets to some drivers of jeepneys, according to photos shared by the MMDA with media.

The drivers, however, were apprehended because of illegal parking along the Roxas Boulevard service road and not because they have been flagged as colorum.

The MMDA’s traffic enforcers apprehended 35 motorists, while 12 vehicles were towed during operations in Pasay and Parañaque, according to the agency.

Last month, the MMDA, the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of Transportation entered into a partnership aimed to intensify the campaign against unauthorized or colorum PUVs.

Under a task force against colorum PUV operators, violators shall be penalized with fines of up to P1 million as well as criminal charges.

The MMDA explained that the deputization of traffic enforcers has nothing to do with the government’s impending crackdown on colorum PUVs.

It stressed it is an “offshoot” of the SC decision. – Ghio Ong