Tricycle plying Barangay Punta Princessa in Cebu City. | CDN File Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Tricycles are well monitored and are not major problems in Cebu City’s roads.
Mayor Edgardo Labella said this on February 21, 2020 after the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) included tricycles as part of its directives for a 75-day deadline to clear roads and sidewalks.
This means that tricycles are among the vehicles to be cleared in primary and secondary roads.
With this, the DILG has also requested routes for the tricycles used as public utility vehicles (PUV) in all local government units (LGU).
Labella said that the city had limited all tricycle franchises to inner roads or barangay roads as mandated by DILG, that no tricycles might ply through primary or secondary roads.
Primary roads are national roads maintained by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) while secondary roads are maintained by the city government.
In the DILG mandate, the tricycles can only stay in their respective routes provided by the LGU, and the LGU may fail the inspection or evaluation if the tricycles are not managed.
“The tricycle franchising is under the city government. The tricycles in the city are not much of a problem. If the DILG wants a route plan, we will comply,” said Labella.
Cebu City Councilor Philip Zafra, who used to be the village chief of Barangay Tisa, said that tricycles in the barangay and nearby Barangay Punta Princesa were sometimes caught on the city road.
Read: Labella orders amendments to pedicab, trike regulations
However, he said the situation was manageable and the tricycles drivers in the city were mostly “disciplined.”
From July to December 2019, the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) has apprehended a total of 222 trikes and pedicabs for plying the main thoroughfares of the city.
READ: CCTO apprehends 222 pedicabs, tricycles in 6 months
At least 120 trikes and 102 pedicabs have been apprehended in the city, most of them in Barangay Ermita around the Carbon Public Market.
In previous statements, Labella has ordered an amendment of pedicabs and trikes regulations in the city.
The City Legal Office (CLO) has begun studying the guidelines set by the DILG for the amendment of the local regulations./dbs