Duterte orders nationwide crackdown on colorum PUVs

President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday directed policemen to arrest drivers and operators of colorum public utility vehicles nationwide following Tuesday's bus crash in Occidental Mindoro that killed 19 people and injured 21 others.

Speaking at an event in Davao City hours after visiting the crash site, the tough-talking Duterte said authorities may kill the drivers and operators if their lives are at risk while making an arrest.

"Isulod gyud sa kulungan kay patilawon nako na sila (Lock them up because I want them to experience life in jail)," Duterte said in his native Cebuano. "Why? Because they are foisting a fraud."

Duterte admitted that the government is to blame for not decisively curbing the proliferation of colorum PUVs, adding laws and regulations against illegally operating units must be fully enforced.

"It has been there like cancer. Many Filipinos died too soon because of the illegal racket of these people," he said. 

The President also threatened to resign from his post if he could not solve the problem.

"If I could not solve this, just tell me and I will step down from my post. I will hand it over to someone who can better address this problem," he said.

Duterte earlier in the day went to Sablayan town in Occidental Mindoro to inspect the crash site and visit the victims of the road mishap.

Initial investigations by the police and the chief mechanic of Sablayan's municipality revealed the bus owned by Dimple Star Transport was not in optimum condition.

The vehicle, which plunged into a 15-meter-deep ravine, was also found to have rust all over its body and underneath its flooring.

Malacañang had expressed its sympathies to the victims of the accident and vowed that the government would do its part to give them justice. —KBK, GMA News