AN umbrella organization of truckers wants a two-year reprieve from the imposition of fines and penalties for colorum or unauthorized vehicles to give truckers time to secure or renew their franchises.
According to the Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines (CTAP) — an amalgamation of 8,000 member associations — the suspension is justified, especially since the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) was largely to blame for the proliferation of colorum trucks nationwide.
In a joint letter addressed to Transport Secretary Jose de Jesus, CTAP president Ruperto Bayocot and chairman Col. Rodolfo de Ocampo said the “lackadaisical processing of franchise applications of the Transport Department has contributed to the growing number of trucks”.
They noted the franchise application requires numerous documents and a rigorous process. “Oftentimes,” they said, “the delay becomes unreasonable to the prejudice of the trucker applicants.”
Land Transportation Office data showed there are to date 311,580 trucks registered nationwide but only 21,345 or 6.9% have been issued franchises. The rest are awaiting their franchises, the processing time of which could be anywhere from one to two years.
“Pending approval of our members’ application of Certificate of Public Convenience, we respectfully request that the fines and penalties… should not be enforced against our member-applicants for a period of two years to give the truckers enough time to have their trucks franchised,” Bayocot and Ocampo wrote.
Penalties for colorum operations are P6,000 (first offense); P6,000 plus a storage fee of P2,000 per day (second offense); and automatic suspension plus a P2,500 per day storage fee (third offense).
Earlier, CTAP also proposed that white-plated trailers/chassis (or those without a franchise) towed by franchise-covered trucks with yellow plates be automatically considered as having a franchise.
