MANILA — The Quezon City government does not see any reason to ban tricycles from being used as school service, a local executive said on Friday.
Reacting to the pronouncement of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte said the city government would be opposing the idea of prohibiting the use of tricycles as school service.
“Nasa local government, kasi kami ang naglalagay ng prangkisa at iyung overloading, hindi naman po isyu (It is with the local government, because we issue the franchise and there is no question on overloading),” Belmonte said.
“Ang kailangan lang ay mas i-enforce ang batas patungkol sa school service (What is needed is to enforce more the law on school service),” Belmonte said.
The city executive noted the need for a stricter regulation that tricycle operators could comply with, such as not being “colorum” or unregistered and not overloaded.
“Anti-overloading siguro. Dapat hindi overloading, nasa tamang linya at legal ang prangkisa (It should be anti-overloading. There should be no overloading. They should be on the proper line, and the franchise should be legal),” Belmonte said.
“Walang mali kung sumakay ang estudyante patungong school. Bakit, kasalanan bang sumakay ng tricycle? (There’s nothing wrong if a student boards a tricycle in going to school. Why, is it prohibited to board a tricycle?)” she said.
She added that compared to school bus service, tricycle fare is much cheaper and the vehicle is more practical to use.
In 2014, Belmonte passed the ordinance, “The Quezon City Tricycle Management Code of 2014”, which provides for the rules and regulations in the operation of tricycles in Quezon City – wherein tricycles can only have four passengers, including the driver.
There are more than 24,700 legitimate tricycles from 150 Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association in Quezon City. (Perfecto Raymundo, Jr./PNA)
