Checkpoints have been put in place in various entry points inside the NCR bubble to stop the resurgence of colorum vehicles who could be carrying passengers infected with Covid-19.
The vehicles were stopped at a checkpoint along Real Road in Barangay Turbina, Calamba City after traffic enforcers noticed that physical distancing was not being observed by the passengers
IT used to be that only untaxed merchandize and goods like cigarettes and others are being smuggled.
But times have changed and Covid-19 has spawned another illegal activity, which is transporting people from the provinces going to Metro Manila or vice versa using the so-called colorum vehicles, without securing necessary travel and health permits.
This, as the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has once again cautioned commuters to avoid patronizing vehicles unauthorized to ply their routes, after two colorum vans were apprehended by the Inter-Agency Council for Traffic (I-ACT) in Calamba City, Laguna last Monday (April 12)
The vehicles were stopped at a checkpoint along Real Road in Barangay Turbina, after traffic enforcers noticed that physical distancing was not being observed by the passengers.
At least 14 passengers were caught in each van, who were found to have come from different provinces in Bicol Region.
Passengers said they paid P700 to P1,200 to the van operators for transporting them to Fairview, Quezon City.
Authorities said not only did the van operators violate social distancing measures, they also lacked permits to transport people outside the so-called “NCR Plus bubble.”
Checkpoints have been put up in various entry points inside the NCR Plus bubble to apprehend “Covid-19 smugglers” operating colorum vehicles, upon orders of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade.
(See also: Tugade blasts COVID SMUGGLING)
Tugade had said these colorum vehicles not only pose a danger to public safety but also increases the risk of spreading Covid-19.
Metro Manila and the provinces of Laguna, Bulacan, Rizal and Cavite were placed under a modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until April 30. (ONT)
Tags: #Covid19, #DepartmentOfTransportation, #InterAgencyCouncilForTraffic, #colorumvehicles