CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board-10 (LTFRB-10) on Thursday welcomed the government’s move of banning tricycles and other three-wheel vehicles used for public transport from plying the national roads.
Memorandum circular 2020-036, which was issued by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DIG), directed local government officials to prohibit small vehicles from the national highway.
“The ban will clear our national roads and help decongest the national highways of traffic,” said Aminoden Guro, LTFRB-10 regional director.
Aside from tricycles, also prohibited to operate are pedicab, motorized pedicab, and even the so-called “tricab.”
In a statement, Eduardo Año, DILG secretary, said three-wheeled public transport vehicles are not allowed to even cross or make a U-turn on national highways.
“Local governments must review and modify tricycle routes according to the ban and are encouraged to include in their plans the construction of local roads or overpasses where the tricycles can operate,” Año said.
But Guro noted that companies providing motorcycle-taxi services such as Angkas, JoyRide and Moveit are exempt from the DILG order.
In Cagayan de Oro, for instance, Guro said he received instructions from the Department of Transportation’s technical working group (TWG) to allow the three motorcycle-hailing operators to operate in this city, with a cap of 1,000 units per player.
The TWG has included this city from the pilot study on the viability of motorcycle-taxis that will run until March 23.
In a previous interview, Guro said he has given Angkas the green light after the company complied with the requirements set by the TWG.
He said he approved the operation of Angkas in Cagayan de Oro after LTFRB-10 conducted a random inspection of some of its 925 motorcycle units on Feb. 20.
In an interview, Angeline Tham, Angkas chief executive officer, said Angkas’ aim is to professionalize the “habal-habal” (motorcycle-for-hire) industry that has been in existence and has served thousands of commuters in Mindanao for decades.
But as of Thursday, Feb. 27, Angkas has yet to operate in the city a week after the LTFRB approved its permit.
Angkas has not yet issued a formal statement of its social media accounts and a text-message sent through the company’s hotline on this query has remained unanswered as of this posting.(davaotoday.com)
