A nationwide anti-crime group filed Monday a letter-complaint with the Department of Information and Communications Technology asking Secretary Gregorio Honasan to conduct a formal inquiry into so-called “colorum” or illegally operating courier services in the country.
In a communication signed by Citizens Crime Watch president Diego Magpantay and lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, head of the CCW legal panel, Honasan was urged to investigate “as to why these illegal courier services have been allowed to operate for an appreciable length of time without [the DICT] making use of its regulatory powers.”
The letter also called on the DICT to task for the “demonstrable inaction on the part of its key officials in the face of such palpable disregard of laws and regulations.
According to industry estimate, almost a hundred unauthorized delivery services are operating in the country at present.
These include “big players” capitalized at hundreds of millions of pesos, those owned by foreign entities in contravention of the Corporation Code, and those who are only licensed for courier services in the National Capital Region but are operating throughout the country.
The complaint also asked the DICT “why those entities obviously guilty of open breach of the law have been allowed registration, thus legitimizing disrespect for rules and regulations.”
Founded by lawyer Jose Malvar Villegas, the CCW has been in existence for more than 31 years and has filed and won numerous anti-graft cases against high-ranking government officials, notably former Presidents Joseph Estrada and Benigno Aquino III, Senator Leila de Lima, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez and others.
