RODY: ARREST DIMPLE, ‘COLORUM’ PUV OWNERS

President Duterte ordered the arrest of the operator of Dimple Star Transport and all owners and drivers of unlicensed public utility vehicles (PUVs), or “colorum,” during his unannounced visit to the wakes of fatalities in an accident involving a Dimple unit in Occidental Mindoro.

“Beginning tomorrow, all drivers [of colorum] will be arrested,” Mr. Duterte announced at the 16th founding anniversary of a “lumad” group in Davao City, shortly after his visit in Mindoro.

He warned drivers and operators against resisting arrest.

“If you resist arrest and the lives of police were in danger, my order was to kill you,” the President said.

Pestilence

“Let’s end this problem. This is pestilence,” Mr. Duterte’s most trusted aide, Christopher “Bong” Go, quoted the President as saying after his trip to Mindoro.

Mr. Duterte gave the orders after a Dimple bus headed for Manila plunged into a ravine in Sablayan town, killing 19 people and injuring 21 others.

“My heart bled for the victims,” Mr. Duterte said. “They died because of these sons of bitches even if it was not yet their time,” he said.

Dimple’s entire fleet would be grounded, according to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) after an inspection on Dimple’s units and terminal in Quezon City.

In a seven-page order, the LTFRB said operator Hilbert Napat committed “gross negligence.”