Binay vows to help jeepney drivers vs 'kotong' cops

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay has offered his support for the transport sector in their campaign against police officers and traffic enforcers who extort money from jeepney drivers.

 Binay, who conducted a dialogue with 300 leaders of the Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (FEJODAP), Pinag-isang Samahan ng Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (Piston), the Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations (ACTO), Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Associations of the Philippines (ALTODAP) and Pasang Masda over the weekend, said he will closely coordinate with Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo to thresh out plans to fight extortion, also known as kotong.

Fejodap chairman Zenaida Maranan said their problem with kotong has worsened under the Aquino administration.

She said even the lowest ranking police officers are collecting at least P20 as protection money.

“The kotong cops and traffic enforcers are eating much of our earnings for the day. Drivers who are plying on short range routes, starting from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m., are only earning P200 to P250 minus their budget for diesel and the boundary. The kotong cops and traffic enforcers are making life more miserable to drivers of public utility jeepneys,” Maranan told Binay.

“The P20 being extorted by the kotong cops and traffic enforcers would have been a big boost to the earnings of jeepney drivers... The police are no longer the protectors of the people. They are now the collectors of the people,” Maranan said.

ACTO chairman Efren de Luna, meanwhile, aired their concern about the increase in fines collected by the Department of Transportation and Communications, which was raised from P150 to P1,000, for minor traffic offenses.