MMDA steps up fight vs. ‘botcha buses’
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Saturday vowed to step up its campaign against “botcha buses" — illegal buses that use a new scheme to cover the name of bus companies painted on the vehicle with stickers bearing names of legitimate ones. MMDA chairperson Francis Tolentino said that at least three of these bogus provincial bus units have been flagged down on separate occasions along Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) last week. "This is a double-kill on the part of the bus operator. Aside from the fake license plates, they also tried to mislead government authorities of their company's real identity and are operating without valid franchises," he said in a statement posted on the MMDA website on Saturday. The apprehended bus units have already been brought to the MMDA impounding area in Pasig City, he added. Tolentino described “botcha buses" — which derive their name from double-dead meat illegally sold in the market — as bus units which commit multiple violations of the law by placing stickers of names of registered bus companies around the vehicle’s body to cover up the name of the illegal ones. The MMDA chief likewise warned provincial buses which use this new scheme of possible sanctions from the Department of Justice, the Land Transportation Office and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board. "This is a brazen display of wanton disregard for the law by unscrupulous people. They are becoming more creative in finding ways to outwit the authorities. But rest assured that we will double our efforts to outsmart them and fight these malpractices," he said.—With Andreo C. Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV