Text Anti-Kotong drive acts upon 1,902 plaints

The “Text Anti-Kotong” hotline of the Philippine National Police has already acted upon 1,902 complaints it received since its launching November of last year.

According to the Philippine Information Agency, the project has already received and acted upon 1,902 “kotong” complaints via short message service through mobile phone number 09275151515.

Senior Supt. Manolito Labador, project manager of the anti-kotong campaign, said that the system led to the arrests of 33 PNP personnel, eight Land Transportation Office personnel, eight from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, three local government unit officials as well as 19 civilians.

Labador said that since its implementation last November 12, an average of 10 text messages are received daily nationwide. These are processed into the Kotong Management Information System.

He said it was noticed that for the months of July and August, there were lesser texts received, allegedly implying the success of the program.

Transport groups also expressed their gratitude over the said project since it has taken away the burden of demanding traffic personnel.

The transport groups, led by those in Metro Manila, are batting for the institutionalization of the PNP Text Anti-Kotong Project which is scheduled to culminate in December this year.

They will write a letter to PNP Director Avelino Razon to prolong the project as this has deterred “kotong” incidences, with its significant impact especially in the transport sector.

“For the months of July and August, since the launching of this project, we have observed almost zero incidence of mulcting/extortion on the road,” said Jess Cortez of the Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines during the 7th Assessment Meeting at the National Headquarters of the PNP in Camp Crame recently.

The Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines representative, Boy Alvarez was quick to support the intention.

“The flow of transportation has become almost seamless though a few cases of mulcting/extortion can still be observed,” Alvarez said.

President Gloria Arroyo made public the government’s efforts to improve the plight of drivers by getting rid of corrupt enforcers. — Ferliza C. Contratista/MEEV