THE drive from Cebu City to the southern town of Argao on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019, was an eye-opener.
I didn’t take the SRP (South Road Properties) route since I wanted to check if the Mambaling underpass had made a difference on traffic in the area.
Well, it all seemed pretty normal. By that, I meant the traffic moved, albeit at a snail’s pace in some parts. I guess that answered my question.
Then again, it was morning and a weekend. The situation might have been different if it had been a Monday. Still, I was astonished at how much that part of the city had changed.
You see, many motorists who are headed to the towns in the south have been using the south coastal road since it opened several years ago. The buses, too, had been redirected to the coastal road.
So only taxis and public utility jeepneys vie for space with motorcycles and private vehicles on N. Bacalso Ave. That is, until the highway reaches Talisay City and Minglanilla. There, motorists are joined by tricycles and trisikads.
In August last year, the LTFRB (Land Transportation Franchising and regulatory Board) announced that tricycles and trisikads would be banned from national highways once the Local Public Transport Plan (LPTRP) was implemented.
The DOTr (Department of Transportation) requires each local government unit (LGU) to have an LPTRP and verify the number of public transport units. But the question is, how many LGUs have complied with this requirement? Even if they’ve submitted one, the LPTRP will still have to be evaluated and approved before it can be implemented.
So tricycle and trisikad operators can rest assured that they will continue to be the bane of motorists for many more years to come.
Anyway, the prohibition against tricycles and trisikads along the highway is not absolute.
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año has made it clear that these types of vehicles can still traverse the highway if there are no alternative routes found or if the City Council or Municipal Council allows them to do so, which basically means tricycles and trisikads will still be part of the urban landscape because, let’s face it, their votes count.
So back to my drive last Saturday.
It took just over an hour to get past the Minglanilla church. I was behind this van that was moving exceptionally slow for a kilometer or two only to find out that the van was right behind a tricycle. And to think I was on the fast lane, or on the left lane. Then again, tricycles have no choice but to stay on the left lane since they have to eventually enter one of the many side streets along the highway.
The problem is made worse once you get to the two-lane section of the highway. So how long did the drive to Argao take? Well, minus the 30-minute lunch break in Carcar, just under four hours.