City Council junks traffic plan due to motorists' objection

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — The City Council yesterday concluded a two-day public consultation on the proposed Alternate Day traffic scheme ordinance, which was eventually opposed by drivers and operators.

The proposed ordinance, authored by Councilor Danilo Leon and co-authored by Vice Mayor Alan Gel Cordova and Councilors Erwin Macias, JV Imbo, and Franklin Esmena Jr., was intended to decongest the traffic in the city.

Majority of the 2,500 drivers and operators of the motorcabs for hire however junked the proposal, prompting the council to shelve it for good.

During the public consultation, drivers and operators aired their sentiments against the proposed measure, arguing that the motorcabs for hire were not the ones causing congestion in the city but the four-wheeled private vehicles, including delivery vans and trucks that are allowed entry in certain hours of the day.

Leon earlier explained that the ordinance does not single out the motorcabs for hire but is finding solutions that affect their operation in the city.

The alternate day traffic scheme had been tried, tested and proven in Palawan since 2004 and there’s no reason for it to fail in Dumaguete, he contended but to no avail.

Mayor Manuel Sagarbarria who was invited to the public consultation said that, during his term as city councilor, he already opposed to the idea of implementing an odd-even scheme or color coding for motorcabs for hire when it was proposed in 2009.

He said he does not believe the scheme will double the income of tricycle drivers. —(FREEMAN)