Stop colorum drivers – commuter watchdog

COMMUTER watchdog Pilipino Society and Development Advocates CommuterConsumer Inc. (Pasada Inc.) has asked the transportation agencies to apprehend non-franchised (colorum) utility vehicle drivers who are preying on hapless commuters trapped in areas under the current health protocols.

Pasada spokesman Ric Rivera said additional buses must immediately be deployed in various cities and provinces to secure several hundreds of commuters still unable to get their rides to Metro Manila as a result of the raising of the status of Metro Manila to alert level 3 due to the resurgence of Covid-19.

He identified these areas as Baguio, San Fernando in Pampanga and La Union, Dagupan, Lingayen and Urdaneta in Pangasinan, Cagayan-Isabela and Nueva Ecija, as well as the Bicol region where big concentration of provincial passengers are located.

Without additional buses with franchises, Rivera said fellow kababayans particularly Overseas Filipino Workers and balikbayans are falling prey to unscrupulous operators of colorum buses and vans, charging fares up to five to seven times more than the usual.

Pasada also echoed its appeal anew to Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade and members of the Inter

Agency Task Force to reconsider its decision for North-bound provincial buses and commuters to use the NLEx (Northern Luzon Expressway) bus terminal in Bocaue, Bulacan.

The use of NLEx bus terminal entails additional fare of 56 pesos per passenger, which Pasada said is a financial burden for most commuters, some of whom are still unemployed.

“Requiring commuters to cough out P100 (back and forth) is inconsistent with the current policy announced by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte not to burden Filipinos with superfluous fares particularly at this time when everyone is suffering due to the economic recession,” Rivera said.

Pasada echoed the worries of members from the transport sector due to the unsteady financial situation of most bus firms.

The operator of the NLEx bus terminal allegedly requires rent from every bus firm a humongous amount of P100,000 as parking fee per bus on top of an entry fee of P400 per bus unit.

Rivera said such a financial requirement will hasten the bankruptcy of bus companies leading to a loss of employment not just from the worker’s ranks, but also to other industries and businesses connected with the transport sector.