Thursday, February 21, 2008 Dad wants 9T pedicab drivers to get police clearance By Hazel Grace A. Pasquin and Claire Joy Bernaldez
A LOCAL legislator is pushing for the passage of an ordinance that requires pedicab drivers in the city to secure police clearance.
City Councilor Erwin Plagata, chairman of the committee on transportation his committee saw the need of making these cabbies secure a clearance from the PNP in the city because of the noted increase in the number of thief and robbery cases here.
He added that it not only a form of income generation on the part of the City Government as the 50 percent of the total takings from this move will go to the city, but also a method of maintaining peace and order here.
"This is a way of finding out who has an existing derogatory record," he said before the regular session Wednesday, in which he proposed the said move.
He cited the district of Mandurriao as the area that has a high number of thief and robbery cases. Though not directly linking the pedicab drivers to these cases, he showed that 40 percent of the area's drivers are not from the area.
"Most of them (pedicab drivers) are from San Miguel (town)," he revealed.
Plagata said as per inquiry, these drivers joined the group of Mandurriao drivers because of the bigger income opportunity in the district compared to that of their towns.
However, a group of pedicab drivers from Jaro district opposed the said move saying that it only adds financial burden on their part.
The said proposal is yet to be submitted to the City Legal Office to check its feasibility and legality.
