FORMER Metro Manila Development Authority chairman and now Marikina City Rep. Bayani Fernando said Wednesday that one of the solutions to Metro Manila’s traffic problem is to burn illegal public utility, locally called colorum, vehicles.
Fernando, vice chairman of the House Committee on Transportation, urged the government to rationalize the issuance of franchise to all public utility vehicles.
“All PUVs must be given franchise… the jeeps, buses and UV Express. The truth is we lack in public utility vehicles, but the problem is dispatching, and that is why we created the organized bus routed dispatching. The secret of all transport companies is the effective dispatching,” said Fernando in a meeting with reporters in Makati City.
Upon issuance of franchise, Fernando said, “You will no longer become colorum. But first strike, your vehicle will be burned and from there, you will get another franchise before you can get a [new] unit.”
He explained that “If you did not burn it, that will return to the street. You have the right to own but you should not use it. As I see it, they will just be recurring problems. It’s exasperating already. Because we are too kind.”
Fernando, who was chairman of the MMDA during the time of then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, said he is set to formally file a bill on the matter soon.
The MMDA is mandated under Republic Act 7924, the law creating the agency, to go after colorum and out-of-line vehicles.
MMDA officials admitted that colorums, out-of-line Asian Utility Vehicles and undisciplined drivers of public utility vehicles are among the “culprits” that caused heavy traffic along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue.
They added there are also groups of AUV drivers using handheld radios to inform or communicate their members to avoid apprehension.
In recent operations in Quezon City, Caloocan City and Pasay City, a composite team from different government agencies apprehended more than 50 vehicles and among the drivers that were caught are active members of the police force and a traffic enforcer of the MMDA.
Under the Joint Administrative Order issued by the Land Transportation Office and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board: Operators of colorum buses will be fined P1 million for the first offense, P200,000 for trucks and vans, P120,000 for sedans, P50,000 for jeepneys, and P60,000 for motorcycles.
Five years ago, the Metro Manila Council, MMDA’s policy-making body composed of the 17 mayors, authorized the agency to implement vehicle tagging of all registered and franchised public utility vehicles plying the major and secondary roads of Metro Manila.
The scheme aimed to wipe out colorum and out-of-line PUVs and improve the MMDA traffic monitoring and surveillance. It will also facilitate easy tracking and identification of traffic violators because the license plates of the PUVs will be painted prominently on the roofs, making it easy for the MMDA’s CCTV cameras to capture images and identify them.
During the first State of the Nation Address of President Rodrigo Duterte, the Chief Executive ordered an all-out campaign against colorum and out-of-line vehicles and the removal of terminals that caused traffic congestion.
Meanwhile, Fernando said he is not in favor of the odd-even vehicular reduction scheme, the planned emergency powers to President Duterte, and the proposal made by the Japan International Cooperation Agency transferring vital installations such as the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Manila North Harbor from Metro Manila to nearby provinces.
“It’s [JICA proposal] ridiculous. Everyone will close the city,” said Fernando. “Instead of odd-even, we have to open all roads, small and big ones, including private subdivisions. It’s not right to say that they will only open the roads if the government can guarantee of safety.”
Fernando said the Department of Transportation must also reconsider its decision to clip the power of the MMDA to manage traffic.
“It should be the lead agency because it has the capability and the know-how. The people there were demoralized and they don’t know what they are going to do. Word of caution do not dismember any institution. This institution came from this Congress. Instead of dismembering, you should strengthen the agency.”