MMDA bares bus firm's new approach to avoid 'coding'

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has uncovered a modus operandi by a bus firm to evade the “number coding” scheme being enforced along EDSA, an official said yesterday.

The modus operandi involves using fake license plates and fielding unregistered buses using the name of a bus firm with a franchise to operate. The name of the licensed bus line is printed on a sticker that is then attached to the sides and front of the bus.

“This is a brazen attempt to defy the law. This is like the botcha (or contaminated) meats now being sold in some markets,” MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino told reporters at the MMDA’s impounding complex in Pasig City yesterday afternoon.

This new modus operandi of colorum bus operators was exposed by agents of the MMDA’s Task Force Kaayusan while on patrol along EDSA. In three separate incidents, the agents found three Solid North buses were disguised as De Leon Express buses using stickers on the sides and front of the units.

According to the MMDA, Solid North does not have a franchise to operate along EDSA. The buses were initially flagged down due to fake license plates.

Tolentino said they have referred the matter to the Land Transportation Office and to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board for further investigation. The apprehended buses remain impounded at the MMDA’s Pasig City impounding area.