The Iloilo City Government’s Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO) vowed to double its efforts to crack down on erring tricycles and pedicabs on national roads.

Jeck Conlu, PSTMO head, said they would tap concerned government agencies for the enforcement of the tricycle ban.

He stressed that PSTMO has long been running after tricycles and pedicabs plying national roads.

“This time it will be a joint operation with law enforcement agencies,” Conlu said.

From Jan. 1 to to Feb. 20 this year, the PSTMO apprehended 776 erring tricycles.

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año recently signed a memorandum reminding all local government units (LGUs) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) of the law that prohibits tricycles and pedicabs on national highways. 

“Bilang bahagi ng ating road-clearing effort at pagpapaluwag ng kalsada, pinapaalala natin sa ating mga kababayan na bawal ang mga tricycle at pedicab sa national highway,” he said.

“Huwag na po tayong makulit at marami na din pong mga aksidente na nangyari bunga ng kapabayaan dito,” Año added.

Conlu, however, admitted that implementing the order is a tough challenge.

He said some tricyles were given franchises by the city government for routes that were previously classified as local roads but were, in recent years, converted into national roads.

The PSTMO head said there are routes where jeepneys are not available to transport passengers.

“May mga areas nga ang naga-serve lang gid tricycles. So indi mo man pwde kwaon sila. Sin-o ma-serve sang mga passengers dira?”

Conlu said majority of around 5,000 tricycle units operating in the city are colorum or unregistered.

“Only 1,300 units renewed their motor tricycle operators permit (MTOP),” he noted.

As per 2016 data, the city has 27 national roads, 151 local streets or city roads, and 107.976 road networks.

The DILG also directed each LGU to create a tricycle task force separate from the tricycle regulatory boards to formulate or review its tricycle route plan.

The task force will be composed of the mayor as chairman and the chief of police as vice-chairman. Its members are the Sanggunian’s committee chair on transportation or public safety, the president of the Liga ng mga Barangay, the head of the tricycle regulatory board, the head of the Department of Public Order and Safety, the planning and development officer, the head of the traffic management office, and the local government operations officer.

Representatives of the transportation department and its attached agencies will function as resource persons of the task force, while the head of the city or municipal legal office shall provide secretariat support to it.

According to Año, the task force is tasked to meet with stakeholders and rationalize all tricycle routes to enforce the ban, identify national roads within the jurisdiction of the LGU, and determine the present and proposed routes in view of drafting a tricycle route plan (TRP) within 30 days from the issuance of the memorandum.

The plan should include a schematic map of the location of tricycle terminals, the national highways of the LGU and the portions thereof to be used by tricycles if there is no alternative route.IMT (with a report from PNA)