DESPITE THE EFFORTS of the local government of Zamboanga City to implement traffic laws, many motorists continue to violate the laws and further aggravating the worsening situation on the road, especially during rush hours.
Mayor Beng Climaco has repeatedly warned undisciplined motorists to strictly follow traffic rules, but drivers of both public and private vehicles remain defiant.
Tricycles freely ply the highway and passenger jeeps are also overloaded, and motorcycle drivers – the worst of them all in traffic violations – habitually occupy opposite lane of the road despite the presence of traffic policemen and enforcers. And these practices have been going on for many decades now and Climaco has reiterated her order to the traffic authorities to enforce the laws and clear public roads of all obstructions.
Secretary Eduardo Año, of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), has ordered all city and municipal mayors in the country to ban pedicabs and tricycles along national highways. “For safety reasons, no tricycle or pedicab should operate on national highways utilized by four-wheel vehicles greater than four tons and where normal speed exceeds 40 kilometers per hour,” Año said.
He said while the government recognizes that tricycle and pedicab operations provide livelihood and income to Filipinos, both in the urban center and rural areas, allowing them on main thoroughfares poses hazards to other motor vehicles, the riding public, and even to the drivers themselves.
“The regulation of tricycles and pedicabs on national highways is, therefore, to the best interest of everyone,” he said, adding, vehicles may only be allowed by concerned Sangguniang Panlungsod (City Council) or Sangguniang Bayan (municipal council) to traverse main highways if there is no other alternative route.
Año reiterated the directive after receiving reports from its field offices regarding the unregulated operation of tricycles and pedicabs along main thoroughfares which poses serious hazards to the passengers, drivers, and other vehicles. Under the Local Government Code, city and municipal mayors, through their respective Sangguniang, are authorized to regulate the operation of tricycles within their territorial jurisdiction, subject to the guidelines prescribed by the Department of Transportation.
Año also urged local authorities to strictly adhere to the standards and guidelines provided by Memorandum Circular 2007-01, which contains the basic considerations in the preparation of city or municipal tricycle and pedicab franchise and regulatory ordinance or code.
The guidelines include banning of tricycle and pedicab operations along national highways; prohibiting said vehicles to carry more passengers and goods than what they are designed for, or more than what is authorized in the franchise, among others. (Zamboanga Post)
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