By Mary Judaline Partlow/PNA
DUMAGUETE CITY – The provincial office of the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) in Negros Oriental has started implementing the law banning tricycles on national highways since Monday.
Sr. Insp. Silvestre Cenia, Jr., provincial HPG chief, however, admitted that their dilemma now is not all towns and cities in the province have alternate routes.
To begin with, he said, they are using the routes between Dumaguete-Sibulan as an example because it has alternate roads that the tricycles can use.
“Based sa pagsabot sa konseho, ang atong gihimo nga modelo ang Sibulan kay naa sila alternate route Sibulan to Dumaguete (based on the agreement with the city council, we will make Sibulan as a model because they have alternate routes to and from Dumaguete),” he pointed out.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) recently directed the HPG and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to implement the ban on tricycles or pedicabs from the national highways.
However, those that do not have alternate routes can traverse the national highway.
According to Cenia, Jr. there are also the so-called point-to-point routes designated for pick-up and drop-off of tricycle passengers.
He said that during roadside operations, they will check the tricycles’ papers if they are out of line or “allowed from point-to-point”.
Drivers should follow what is stipulated in their franchise, otherwise, they can be arrested for certain violations, he said.
