MMDA hits LTFRB anew on truck policy

MANILA, Philippines - There are at least 28,000 unregistered trucks operating in Metro Manila, causing traffic jams along key streets, due to a directive by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), an official of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said yesterday.

Emerson Carlos, MMDA assistant general manager, said during the MMDA’s weekly radio program on dzBB that the rapid increase in the number of trucks monitored along Katipunan Avenue has been the subject of complaints from motorists in the past two days.

Gridlocks were also reported along Visayas, Congressional and Mindanao Avenues, he added.

Four of every five trucks bear green license plates, which means they are unregistered or “colorum” vehicles, according to Carlos.

Based on LTFRB records, operators of at least 28,000 private trucks applied for a franchise to operate them as public transport vehicles, which bear yellow plates.

He said the entry of colorum trucks was a result of an LTFRB circular allowing private trucks to operate without being apprehended even if their operators are still applying for a franchise.

Carlos said the LTFRB may have violated some laws when it issued the circular without properly consulting Metro Manila’s local governments and the MMDA.

The LTFRB said the streets the MMDA mentioned has been prone to traffic jams even before the circular was issued.

Malacañang has intervened in the brewing feud between the two agencies, asking their officials to work on a solution.