EDITORIAL - An order that must be enforced

Apart from contending with smoke-belching buses and jeepneys that break all traffic rules, motorists in Metro Manila must endure the presence even on major thoroughfares of some of the slowest modes of transportation: tricycles and pedicabs. Tricycle fares are much higher than those for jeepneys, but the three-wheeled vehicles have certain pluses over the bigger, faster public utility vehicles: passengers can be dropped off right at the doorstep of their homes, and special rides allow a passenger to transport stuff such as construction materials that won’t be accepted in other PUVs. Such transportation services remain in big demand among people without their own vehicles.

Metro Manila traffic, however, is chaotic enough without the presence of three-wheeled vehicles whose top speed is 20 kilometers per hour. The tricycles and pedicabs are fine for side streets and roads in some private villages that allow their entry. But the three-wheeled vehicles operate even in the busiest thoroughfares of Metro Manila, slowing down traffic, ignoring stop lights and violating traffic rules. Traffic cops ignore the three-wheeled vehicles, either because the cops are mulcting from the drivers, or because they don’t want to deprive a poor pedicab driver of his day’s earnings by booking him for a minor traffic violation.

The law, however, is supposed to exempt no one, whether rich or poor. There are traffic rules to be enforced, and one of Asia’s worst traffic situations to untangle. No one will argue with the need to allow drivers of pedicabs, tricycles and even horse-drawn vehicles to earn their day’s keep in peace. But this doesn’t mean allowing them to slow down thousands of motorists on main arteries such as Roxas Boulevard and Taft Avenue.

The previous administration ordered tricycles and pedicabs off the major thoroughfares of Metro Manila. The order wasn’t enforced for even a day. Now Manila Mayor Lito Atienza has ordered pedicabs off the major roads in his city. This is welcome news. The question is will the order be enforced? Other mayors of Metro Manila should issue a similar order. Then they should all make sure that the three-wheeled vehicles stay only where they are allowed to operate.