LEGAL IMPASSE? Tricycle operators are stuck in a legal embroilment in the operations in Katipunan. Photo by Abram P. Barrameda.

TRICYCLE OPERATORS in Loyola Heights have found themselves facing a challenge in the form of an ordinance banning them from operating along Katipunan Avenue.

Members of the Loyola Heights community urged local officials to strictly implement the tricycle prohibition for safety reasons. For this effort, the community is being represented by a multi-sectoral group called Operation Katipunan (OK), which is composed of Barangay Captain Cesar Marquez and representatives from the Ateneo de Manila University, Miriam College, Varsity Hills, La Vista, Xavierville I and Xavierville II.

In support of its demand, OK invoked the Metro Manila Council Ordinance No. 6 Series of 1990, which “[prohibits] pedicabs and tricycles from operating along highways and major thoroughfares within Metro Manila and [limits] their operations to tertiary roads and within subdivisions.”

OK maintains that Katipunan is considered a national highway because it connects C-5 and the North Luzon Expressway.

In their defense, the Loyola Heights (LH) and Loyola Pansol (LP) Tricycle Operators and Drivers Associations (TODA) said that the Quezon City Council gave them the franchise to traverse Katipunan.

LH TODA President Mario Manzano said that he could not understand why a ban is being pushed for since their franchise to traverse “within the territorial limits of Loyola Heights,” which includes Katipunan, is still valid as of press time.

Loyola Heights Barangay Kagawad Felixes Latonero said that OK initiated the demand for prohibition, and not the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

Complaints were filed when members of OK inquired about the limits of tricycles plying national highways during one of the visits of the MMDA chairman to the Loyola Heights community.

The LH TODA and LP TODA lobbied for an exemption and were granted a “temporary” release from the ordinance. OK and the TODAs agreed on a deal where tricycles are only allowed to take the U-turn slots near C. P. Garcia Avenue and under the bridge.

Policy issue

“Itong prangkisa namin binalangkas ng 24 councilors ng Quezon City. Pinag-aralan ‘yun tapos may deliberation ‘yun, at public hearing (Our franchise was outlined and deliberated on by Quezon City’s 24 councilors. There was also a public hearing),” said Alex Baay, president of LP TODA.

Latonero said that the council issued this permit because of the need for accessible and convenient means of transportation within the community.

However, Abigail Favis, coordinator of the Ateneo Environmental Management Council (AEMC) and member of the Ateneo Traffic Group (ATG), pointed out the seeming overlap in the jurisdiction of the MMDA and the jurisdiction of the Quezon City Council when it comes to Katipunan.

“These tricycle drivers have permits to pass through Katipunan, so this is actually a policy issue—it’s a governance issue,” she said. “It’s actually the people who [gave the TODAs] permission who have to fix their system.”

Meanwhile, OK Executive Director Ana Tolentino said that the Quezon City Department of Public Order and Safety, under Gen. Elmo San Diego, admitted its lack of vigilance in implementing the ordinance.

It’s not the first time that tricycles have been banned from plying Katipunan. In August 2008, a complete tricycle ban was imposed by the MMDA. However, since the ban came on short notice and had drawn flak from both passengers and tricycle drivers, it did not last long.

Livelihood at stake

Prior to the agreement currently in force, a weeklong ban was issued to LP TODA and LH TODA, prohibiting them from passing by the establishments along Katipunan. As such, tricycle operators had to take E. Abada Street, exit to Xavierville and take the U-turn.

Latonero said that the trial had a good run, but mentioned that tricycle drivers, who earned an average of P450 a day, were troubled by the decrease in earnings to P200.

Marlon Cleofas, a security guard in the Ateneo, said, “[Kawawa] rin yung mga trike kasi mawawalan sila ng pagkakakitaan (The tricycle drivers’ situation is regrettable because they will lose their sources of income).”

Tolentino also expressed her sympathy towards the affected drivers. She said, “We must find ways not to displace anyone from his means of livelihood.”

For his part, Manzano said that he appreciated the concern for the tricycle drivers. “We want to cooperate with the authorities, but we also need to earn. We want to earn and, at the same time, serve the public,” he said in Filipino.

Temporary system

Following the weeklong ban, the TODAs submitted a new rerouting proposal wherein tricycles would be allowed to pass by Katipunan establishments, but may only take the U-turn slots near C. P. Garcia and under the bridge. This is the current temporary set-up that has been approved by the Quezon City Council.

However, Manzano said that tricycle passengers have complaints about the new route, as trips take longer.

Disagreeing with the whole campaign for a tricycle ban, junior Angela Escudero feels that prohibition is unnecessary. She said that there are roads and areas which only tricycles can reach. “[If] you wanna fix the whole traffic issue, then regulate the trikes properly or regulate them better because we need them,” she said.

Sophomore Mia Cueva also does not approve of the ban. She said, “I rely on tricycles for going in and out of Ateneo… so with the prohibition of tricycles, I think it’s going to be really, really hard, unless they propose like a jeepney [service] like what they have in UP.”

In response to the allegations of some stakeholders, Latonero said that the heavy flow of traffic is not to be blamed on tricycles. He explained that the cause of traffic is the gridlock caused by private vehicles during the opening and dismissal time of students, the numerous trucks passing through Katipunan and the private vehicles waiting for passengers along the commercial area.

As a major highway, Katipunan is expected to have an even heavier flow of traffic upon the completion of the new Ayala mall and commercial center in the former campus of the University of the Philippines Integrated School.

With reports from Jose C. Cua, Mara D. Cepeda and Ennah A. Tolentino

NECESSARY COMPROMISE. The Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association (TODA) is willing to cooperate with authorities, but it asserts the importance of still earning enough. Photo by Abram P. Barrameda.