A TOURIST transport operator is urging several local government units(LGUs) in Negros Occidental to act against colorum operators in the province.
Jocelyn Dacumos, a tourist transport operator based in Kabankalan City, said in a media interview at the Negros Press Club in Bacolod City on November 13, that other legitimate operators are affected by those operators who utilize colorum vans.
She said some passengers are somehow afraid to ride a tourist transport van because they are thinking it might be a colorum vehicle.
“A colorum vehicle will put the safety of passengers in jeopardy because the drivers and operators have no accountability in case of accidents,” she added.
“This is unfair for legitimate operators being tagged as colorum,” she said.
She reiterated that “not all vans are colorum.”
Dacumos said she know a tour operator that has the same nature of operation with them but operating differently in Kabankalan City.
“They are misleading the people...they are illegal and their vehicles are considered colorum,” she added.
She also alleged that this operator has established terminals in the cities of Kabankalan, Sipalay, and Hinoba-an town even if it’s not covered by the law.
“Tourist transport vans cannot be utilized as express service vehicles because it is considered as colorum operation, based on the Department of Transportation and Communication Joint Administrative Order 2014-01, which also stated that it belongs to a public utility vehicle, which operates outside its denomination,” she said.
Dacumos said she is appealing to the LGUs of Kabankalan, Sipalay, and Hinoba-an to act on the violations of the said colorum operators.
She also called on the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to identify legitimate operators since they have the official records.
She is hoping that the LGU and the LTFRB will give attention to their concerns.(GYM)