CEBU CITY, Philippines — An official of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in Central Visayas (LTFRB-7) urges commuters not to support “colorum” or unregistered vehicles for safety reasons.
LTFRB-7 director Eduardo Montealto, Jr. told passengers that patronizing colorum vehicles would put them at a disadvantage as they cannot guarantee that these drivers underwent proper academy training from the LTFRB and defensive driving training from the Land Transportation Office (LTO).
“Ang ubang pasahero man gud, dili na musulod og terminal. Mao ng among gihangyo g’yod nga ayaw g’yod mo og sakay dinha kay basin ma perwisyo lang mo,” he said.
(Some passengers don’t want to go in the terminal. That’s why we are asking them not to get a ride outside because it may just cause inconvenience.)
“Usa sa among awhag sa mga pasahero is mag-matngon ta kay daghan kaayo og colorum (vehicles) karon,” he added.
(We are urging passengers to be vigilant because there are a lot of colorum vehicles now.)
Montealto said riding in colorum vehicles may cause inconvenience because they will be conducting random inspections along the highway.
“Kung matan-aw nga wala na silay mga franchise, panaugon ang mga pasahero,” he said.
(If we find out they have no franchise, passengers will be asked to disembark.)
How can one spot a colorum vehicle?
Montealto said that the absence of the required Department of Transportation (DOT) stickers on the front or back of a bus or van is an indicator that the vehicles is unregistered.
For this Holy Week period, various road sectors under the DOT, including LTFRB and LTO, have started conducting inter-agency operations from March 31 until April 17 to ensure the roadworthiness of public utility vehicles before ferrying passengers.
Montealto said this is an enhancement of their daily operations as they expect an increase in the number of commuters for the Holy Week.
Montealto said the LTFRB 7 has already issued special permits for more than 100 public utility buses and is planning to issue more as the need arises, especially since the operation at the Cebu South Bus Terminal is open 24/7 for the season.
As of Tuesday, April 4, 2023, a total of 12 public utility vehicles failed the road worthiness inspection and were asked to return to their garage.
Eight of these are Public Utility Buses from the Cebu North Bus Terminal, another one PUB from the Cebu South Bus Terminal, and three other taxi cabs.
/bmjo
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