InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5
MANILA, Philippines – An interagency task force was launched Thursday as part of government efforts to eradicate “kotong” or extortion among traffic enforcers.
The agency, composed of the Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Transportation and Communication, Metro Manila Development Authority, Philippine National Police and Department of Justice, has set up a 24-hour text hotline – 0918-8882749 – to which people can send their complaints.
Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said complainants can choose to be anonymous.
The hotline is initially available only in Metro Manila.
Transport groups hope the hotline and task force will wipe kotong out.
Obet Martin, Pasang Masda president, said drivers can lose up to half their day’s earnings, which average around P400, to mulcting traffic enforcers.
Zeny Maranan, president of FEJODAP or the Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines, hoped the anti-kotong drive will be sustained. “Before this, there was a 20 percent reduction in kotong but the number (has) again increased for some time. With this program, we hope that kotong will be 100 percent removed from the streets,” she said.
MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino appealed to drivers to do their part by not offering bribes to enforcers when they are caught violating traffic rules.
Robredo also urged drivers to strictly follow traffic laws.
