DESPITE a crackdown on unregistered "payong payong", trisikad and other motorized vehicles plying the city streets, the city government has failed to eradicate them.
Councilor Conrado Baluran said that the ordinance that bans their operations might have been harsh, which led him to file a resolution to allow them to legally operate in the streets.
Baluran, who heads the City Council on transportation and communication, urged the Motorized Vehicle Franchising and Regulatory Division (MVFRD) of the City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) and other concerned agencies to open up new franchises to stop the illegal operation of unregistered motorized vehicle units.
"The problem is they were operating and plying illegally per se in our main thoroughfares already for years since its specification does not suit and qualify as mode for transporatiton due to its unsafe features as specified under Ordinance 0334-12, otherwise known as 'Comprehensive Transport and Traffic Code of Davao City'," the councilor said in his speech.
For humanitarian reasons, he said that the city government would find means to allow these vehilcles to operate.
However, Baluran said that only qualified franchisers will be allowed to operate, to protect the drivers, riders and even the pedestrians.
"Payong payong, trisikad, and other motorized vehicles are the most common local means of transportation that accommodate passengers especially in the interior part of our city," he said.
Currently, he said that there are an estimated 20,000 "payong payong" vehicles operating in the city. He also said that number grows as the population increases.
However, CTTMO head Dionisio Abude issued an order just this month to regulate these motorized vehicles to decongest the volume of vehicles on the roads.
Abude also said these vehicles should not be allowed to traverse in the national highways, for it is not road-worthy.
The CTTMO chief also said that the regulation was also in preparation for the implementation of the High Priority Bus System (HPBS).
Baluran said that he will let the traffic management group to specify the qualification of its roadworthiness.