CCTO eyes tartanilla ban on national highways

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Transportation Office may soon ban tartanillas or horse-drawn carriages along the national highways in the city following an accident last Tuesday that left one passenger dead.

CCTO Operations Chief Francisco Ouano said he noticed that some coachmen veered away from their designated routes.

“We are still conducting investigation sa nahitabo (of the incident) especially naay namatay ato nga (a person died of the) accident,” he said.

Last January 1, Jerry Bacalso, 27, of  Barangay Inayawan, Cebu City, died in a collision between a passenger jeepney and a tartanilla along C. Padilla St., Barangay Mambaling, Cebu City.

The tartanilla was driven by Esteban Celocia while the jeepney was driven by Christopher Aleson.

Ouano said he will check the designated routes of tartanillas before making his final recommendation.

“Mo malfunction man gani ang sakyanan how much more kaning hayop which is kaning kabayo, ang ato to prevent ang ingon ato gihapon nga accident ba mangita gihapon mi og paagi diri sa CCTO kung unsaon nato (If vehicles malfunction, how much more the animals. We hope to prevent a similar accident, so we in CCTO will find ways how to prevent it),” he added.

Ouano said that ideally tartanillas are not supposed to be mixed with the other public utility vehicles for the safety and security of the horses, coachmen, and the passengers.

Ouano said these tartanillas usually go along with the tricycles in the interior portions of the barangay.

“Ang kaning sa Tagunol, tungod man gud sa atoang project diha sa underpass maong dili pa gyud ta kakuan sa atong rota pero oras guro mahuman sila di gyud na sila pwede molabang sa highway (The situation in Tagunol is due to the ongoing underpass project. But the moment the project is completed they are no longer allowed to cross to the highway),” he said.

Meanwhile, Cebu City Veterinarian Alice Utlang said Celocia, driver of the tartanilla, was not at fault when the horse was injured because of the accident.

Utlang said her investigation revealed that the horse was neither maltreated nor undernourished.

“Body score (of the horse) is at least 6 (moderately fleshy) through Henneke horse body condition scoring system which scoring system rates 1-9, 1 being thinnest. The animal is therefore is in favorable body condition and neither emaciated or undernourished,” Utlang said.

“An area on the knee as well is bruised on its anterior surface which may have resulted from the animal falling on its knees. A very slight deviation of its gait has been observed with the animal’s reluctance to bear weight on its left forelimb. All the observed abnormalities are very mild and should resolve on its own even without medical intervention,” read a portion of the investigation report.

Utlang said the horse was already given anti-inflammatory drug and vitamin supplementation, adding that the bruised area was applied with antiseptic and fly repellent.

As of now, Utlang said there are 170 horses used for tartanilla operations in the city. However, she said these horses have limited time to ply the streets. (FREEMAN)