MMDA BANS TRICYCLES, PEDICABS ON
MAJOR ROADS OF METRO
MANILA,
FEBRUARY 9, 2010
(STAR) Alarmed by the sudden “proliferation” of tricycles
and pedicabs – bicycles with sidecars – along busy streets, Metropolitan Manila
Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Oscar Inocentes ordered yesterday the
re-implementation of a 1990 Metro Manila Council (MMC) ordinance prohibiting
such vehicles from plying major roads.
Meeting with top MMDA officials, Inocentes ordered the agency’s Traffic Operations Center (TOC) to form teams that would arrest pedicab and tricycle drivers who operate outside of their franchise routes.
He also ordered the MMDA-TOC to impound all tricycles and pedicabs seen on highways and other major roads.
“We will have them impounded for 30 days. They know that they are banned from
driving along major thoroughfares. If we have to be harsh on them, then so be
it, if this is the only way to ensure their safety,” Inocentes said.
MMC Ordinance No. 6, said Inocentes, was passed by the 17 Metro Manila mayors to protect the lives of not only the pedicab and tricycle drivers but also their passengers. The MMC is the governing and policy-making body of the MMDA.
“The franchise their local government granted to them limits their operation within the local tertiary roads and subdivision roads,” he said.
The MMDA chief said he has personally seen many tricycles operating in some parts of EDSA, Commonwealth Avenue, and Katipunan Avenue. These vehicles not only slow down traffic but also put both the drivers and the passengers in unnecessary danger.
Inocentes said the TOC must be strict in implementing the ban even if some local government units allow them to ply such routes. “We have an MMC ordinance and we have to enforce it. We will not honor the LGUs’ moratorium allowing these pedicabs and tricycles outside their franchise routes,” he said.
MMC Ordinance No. 6, passed during the term of then MMDA chairman Jejomar Binay, imposes a P300 fine or a 10-day imprisonment for violators.
Vehicle reduction in Baguio
On the first day of an experiment on vehicle
eduction in Baguio City, jeepneys from nearby
La Trinidad, Benguet are caught in a gridlock
along Magsaysay Avenue as they are no longer
allowed to go directly to the central business
district. The experimental elicited both
protests and approval from motorists.
ARTEMIO DUMLAO
Benguet to use global satellite in case of power failure in May polls (The Philippine Star) Updated February 09, 2010 12:00 AM
La Trinidad, Benguet , Philippines – A power outage during the May polls, is no problem for Benguet.
A global satellite will be used to transmit results.
The Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) is a global Satellite Internet Network with telephony using portable terminals will be used by the Commission on Elections and Smartmatic if transmission signals will get hard to come by.
Smartmatic regional coordinator Mavic Madayag said, “As of now Comelec has not advised us on how many BGAN machines we will use for the province.”
The province has been included in the six most remote areas in the country with a darn need for BGAN machines to transmit election results.
Benguet, along with Abra, Samar, Leyte, Zamboanga and Tawi-Tawi have been tagged as areas with weak or zero transmission signals.
However Madayag said during the field test on Jan. 26 in Bakun town was successful even without the BGAN machines. “The BGAN machines will be used only when necessary.”
During the consolidation canvassing system technician protocol field test, mock polls were held at two points in Bakun town transmitting results to the provincial capitol in La Trinidad and then to the Comelec point in Manila.
A laptop box, print kit and BGAN are part of the kits to be used in the actual elections, with the BGAN machines as back up when signal for both Globe and Smart telecommunications companies prove to be hard to get.
Benguet is known for its difficult terrain and fluctuating cellphone signals which may pose as a problem come election day.
Ideally, global positioning system (GPS), which will be used by Smartmatic-TIM for the transmission of the ballot count, is to be utilized but for areas without GPS, the BGAN satellite (BGAN) will be used. – Artemio Dumlao