PRESS RELEASE

08 January 2013

LTFRB ANTI-COLORUM DRIVE, GAINING GROUND

Photo: Impounded vehicles at LTFRB impounding area in Taytay, Rizal

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to date has already apprehended and impounded over 200 public utility vehicles (PUV) with out-of-line operation and those without legitimate franchise (colorum), since the start of its own anti-colorum campaign last October 2012 in support of similar efforts from the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and Philippine National Police (PNP) -- agencies that are primarily mandated to apprehend colorum vehicles. The campaign which aims to substantially reduce colorum vehicles in Metro Manila seek to protect the interest and safety of the riding public, while at the same time easing traffic congestion. It is important to note that patronizing unregistered vehicles posts great threat considering that

the driver/operator cannot be held accountable should any untoward incident happen during the journey. LTFRB Chairman Jaime Jacob stressed that the number of

apprehensions made in a period of a little over two months is already a milestone considering that the organizational structure of LTFRB has no provision for an enforcement unit or even a single enforcer to perform this task. In fact the Board had to pull out several personnel from different divisions in rotation to man this anti-colorum drive. Regardless of the limitations, and even if enforcement is not essentially our function, the Board acknowledges the need to address this problem; thus, we are finding ways and means to help other law enforcement agencies on this area. #