“So many layers.”
This was the comment of online Filipinos after a van pretending to be a vehicle of the Department of Health was apprehended with a traffic aide as its driver.
A senior correspondent from News5 on Friday, September 15 reported that authorities flagged a van illegally plying the EDSA Busway with a sticker claiming it was carrying the COVID-19 Task Force of DOH’s Calabarzon Regional Office.
The sticker was placed atop a label that bears the Araneta City logo.
According to News5’s Gerald de la Peña, the van was ferrying passengers to Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
This van pretending to be a DOH vehicle was apprehended for illegally passing through the EDSA Busway. Only to find out that it’s a colorum vehicle ferrying passengers to Sta. Rosa, and that the driver is an MMDA traffic enforcer. 😱 pic.twitter.com/rl1lZp5KRt
— Gerard de la Peña (@gerarddelapena) September 15, 2023
Another report by ABS-CBN senior multi-platform reporter Jacque Manabat revealed that the driver was a traffic aide of the Metro Manila Development Authority.
An unauthorized vehicle disguised as a DOH van was caught illegally passing through the EDSA Busway.
The driver, an MMDA traffic aide, was transporting passengers to Sta. Rosa Laguna. pic.twitter.com/x5yRst1hdK
— Jacque Manabat (@jacquemanabat) September 15, 2023
De la Peña said that the van was impounded after being caught.
The driver also received a ticket and is now under investigation.
The incident caught the attention of some online users who reacted to the circumstances surrounding the story.
“Daming layers, omg,” a user on the X (formerly Twitter) platform commented.
“T**nang plot twist ‘yan HAHAHAHAHAHA, kayo kayo na lang talaga naglolokohan, mga beh,” another Pinoy wrote.
“TEKA, ANG DAMING NANGYAYARE,” commented a different user upon learning the details of the incident.
“So many layers to this story!” exclaimed another user.
MMDA acting chairman Don Artes said that they do not tolerate such incidents.
“Asahan po ninyo na iyan po ay iimbestigahan namin at ‘yung kaukulang parusa ay ating ipapataw,” he said to reporters.
The EDSA Busway is a lane exclusively for the EDSA Bus Carousel initiative.
Only passenger buses, ambulances and marked government vehicles responding to emergencies are supposed to pass through EDSA’s innermost lane.
RELATED: MMDA responds to concern about SUV spotted passing through EDSA Carousel bus lane
Meanwhile, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board grants franchises and accreditations to public vehicles such as public utility jeepneys and buses, among others, that ferry passengers.
Private vehicles that operate as public transport vehicles without proper accreditation from LTFRB, or “colorum,” are prohibited by law.
