Crackdown on colorum vehicles set

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has intensified its crackdown against colorum or unauthorized public utility vehicles on EDSA and other peripheral thoroughfares in response to mounting complaints from legitimate public transport operators as well as the motoring public.

Transportation Assistant Secretary and LTO chief Roberto Lastimoso mobilized the LTO’s Flying Squad under Vicente Mendenilla, Law Enforcement Division chief, to go after the unauthorized vehicles, which are reportedly being operated by ex-military and police officers.

In his after-operation report, Mendenilla said that the Flying Squad was able to impound 15 colorum FX vans plying the Makati-Quezon City route via EDSA. The unauthorized vehicles had been using certain areas in Makati’s financial district as their terminals.

"We’ve found out that most of these colorum vehicles were indeed owned or operated by former policemen and military officers. This is just the initial crackdown; we will intensify the operation in other areas in compliance with (Lastimoso’s) directive," Mendenilla said.