BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – Two councilors disagreed over whether tricycle operators should be required to appear before the City Council before the renewal of their provisional authority to operate.
The appearance of the applicant is a necessary measure to ensure compliance with the ordinance and assess operational standards, the applicant’s background, nationality, and financial capacity, among others, according to Councilor Romel Duron, former council transportation committee head.
However, Councilor Sedfrey Cabaluna, who sponsored several ordinances on the renewal of their provisional authority under the city’s new tricycle route plan, said requiring the applicants to appear in the City Council would be burdensome for the operators, potentially delaying the renewal process and affecting their livelihood.
During their session yesterday, Duron questioned the processes being conducted by Cabaluna, the current transport committee chair.
But Cabaluna pointed out that Duron did not also require the personal appearance of the applicants before the City Council when the latter was the chairman of the transportation committee.
Cabaluna sponsored several ordinances seeking to renew some 281 applications of existing tricycle operators that are up for renewal of their provisional authority under the new route plan. He said the applicants have been holders of provisional jurisdiction for a long time.
“In the previous committee chair, the personal appearance of the applicants is not required. We only require the attendance of the operator applicants,” said Cabaluna.
He said they inquired from the city council secretariat, who told him that requiring the personal appearance of the applicants would depend on the discretion of the transport committee chairperson.
“Nevertheless, we are amenable to that. What I want is to reduce the time the tricycle operators would spend going and spend almost half a day to process their franchise renewal,” he said.
The councilor said he agreed to defer the approval of the ordinances he endorsed yesterday pending the appearance of the tricycle operators before the councill.
This disagreement between Duron and Cabaluna is not the first time. The two previously figured in heated arguments during the passage of the Tricycle Franchising and Regulations Ordinance of Iloilo City” sponsored by Cabaluna, the council’s transportation committee chairman.
Under the ordinance, the city government will issue a total of 2,618 tricycle franchises to cover the 33 approved routes to ply in seven districts in the city.
But Duron voiced his apprehension about approving the new city’s tricycle route plan, and even called it a “half-baked ordinance.”
“It seems that they are killing the routes of our tricycle drivers,” said Duron, the former hearing officer of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB-6).
Duron said that Cabaluna’s committee did not even conduct the survey to determine the viability or profitability of each route and the passenger demand.
But Cabaluna defended the passage of the tricycle franchise ordinance. He stressed the tricycle route plan was carefully studied to ensure the smooth flow of traffic and enhance public safety while ensuring the profitability of the tricycle operators.
Although he admitted to not taking a sample-size approach, Cabaluna pointed out that his committee conducted a study for each tricycle association in the city.
Under the ordinance, all tricycle drivers and operators are required to operate within the fixed route granted in their franchise.
The city government will also issue tricycle franchises valid for three years. The tricycle operators will also be issued the motorized tricycle operators permit (MTOP) to determine their authority to operate a tricycle for public transport. It will be valid for one year and renewable every year.
They are also prohibited from operating on national highways according to the provision of the existing law. The city government, through the Public Safety and Traffic Management Office (PSTMO), will adopt color coding for each tricycle operating in each district.
Mere violations of traffic rules and regulations are not grounds for impounding the tricycle unit, except when the tricycle is used to perpetrate a crime, operates without the valid franchise or operator’s permit, or operator his unit using a fictitious operator’s permit.
Tricycle drivers who operate the tricycle for hire without a valid franchise or operator’s permit will be fined not more than P1,000.
The ordinance states that the maximum number of units per fixed route may be adjusted as demand arises or other circumstances that would affect the viability of the franchises awarded or their ability to cater to the riding public./PN
