Agencies view colorum transport as major challenge for Holy Week 2024

Government agencies pointed to colorum vehicles on both land and sea as the biggest challenge they faced during the 2024 Holy Week.

During a Friday inter-agency press conference on the 2024 Holy Week, Philippine National Police Chief Benjamin Acorda Jr. said the presence of colorum vehicles on the road was one of the challenges they faced aside from the influx of passengers on major thoroughfares.

“May mag-take advantage na mga maniningil ng mahal kasi hindi makasakay sa regular bus [ang ibang pasahero], and there might be colorum [operations] that might attempt to provide transport [na], unfortunately, kung minsan [ay] magte-take advantage sa mga kababayan natin through high fares. So, yan ang mga babantayan,” he said.

(There are going to be people who will take advantage and charge expensive fares because some travelers won’t be able to ride regular buses, and there might be colorum operations that might attempt to provide transport that, unfortunately, sometimes take advantage of our public through high fares. So, those are what we’ll be looking out for.)

Meanwhile, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Rear Admiral Armand Balilo said that colorum vessels were also one of the main concerns for sea travel.

“Kung may colorum sa lupa ay may colorum din sa coastline. Ito ang mga fishing boats o private boats na ginagamit na pagka peak season… para kumuha ng pasahero dahil wala nang masakyan at mag-island hopping,” said Balilo.

(If there’s colorum on land, there’s also colorum at the coastline. There are fishing boats or private boats used during peak seasons… to take passengers since there are no more boats to board and for island hopping.)

He added that colorum sea vessels often had no floating equipment, insufficient radios, or inaccurate passenger lists.

Due to the lack of manpower, the PCG intended to work hand-in-hand with the PNP to monitor the coastlines and avoid accidents caused by unregistered vehicles.

“Kahit 30,000 yung nakadeploy [na coast guardsmen] ay kokonti tayo para bantayan ang coastline natin… Hihingin ko rin ang support ng PNP kasi di lahat ng mga coastlines may mga coast guard. Mas marami kayo sa PNP kaya maganda kung masama sa checklist na matignan din ang mga colorum vessels,” he added.

(Even if we’ve already deployed 30,000 coast guardsmen, there’s still too few of us to watch our coastlines… I’m asking for the support of the PNP because not all of the coastlines have coast guardsmen. There are more of you in PNP so it would be better if you could add colorum vessels to your checklist.)

The Land Transportation Office meanwhile planned to have their personnel at entrances and exits of transport terminals, as well as partnerships with the Philippine National Police to monitor possible colorum operations.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Council also said that they would be on the lookout for colorum vehicles.

“Ang problem dito hindi kasi insured [ang colorum vehicles], hindi registered at masasabi natin hindi safe… So, ‘yan ang babantayan natin at sisiguraduhin namin na mamanage well ang traffic para ang turnaround time ng public transport ay mas mabilis para mas marami ma-cater na passengers,” said MMDA Acting Chairman Atty. Don Artes.

Meanwhile, the PCG said that they intended to be strict and more visible in their operations throughout the week.

They asked the public to aid in managing colorum operations by traveling only through registered transport.

“Ang apela po namin ang public mismo ay mag-cooperate at wag tangkilikin ang colorum vessels. Pangalawa, kung may nag-aalok sa inyo ng colorum vessels isumbong niyo sa law enforcement,” said Balilo.

(Our request is for the public themselves to cooperate and not patronize colorum vessels. Second, if someone offers you transport on colorum vessels, tell law enforcement.) — DVM, GMA Integrated News