Palace firm on banning tricycles

MANILA, Philippines — The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases is standing firm on its decision to prohibit tricycles from plying the streets while Luzon is under enhanced community quarantine, saying social distance should be observed to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The government has prohibited public transportation from March 17 to April 13 to enforce home quarantine on persons not involved in health and other essential services.

Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto has urged the national government to allow tricycles to operate, saying they are needed to transport health workers and other frontliners to their work places.

But Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles rejected the appeal, saying social distancing is hard to enforce inside tricycles.

“The government is really concerned about the use of tricycles because we cannot completely see or understand how social distancing can be observed in a tricycle,” Nograles said at a press conference in Malacañang Wednesday night.

“Let’s all stick to the common ground rules. That’s our appeal. We are doing everything so everyone is given equal treatment and protection,” he added.

Nograles, who is also the spokesman of the task force, said local governments have the means to provide transportation to frontline workers without violating quarantine protocols.

“You have a jeep or multicab or a four-wheel vehicle, either you use yours or borrow from your constituents...Other LGUs (local government units) complied,” the Palace official said.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año said Sotto should abandon his “foolish” proposal and just look for other solutions to mitigate the effects of the enhanced community quarantine to residents.

Sotto on Wednesday renewed his appeal to the national government to let tricycles continue operating in the city, saying the city’s own vehicles were not enough to service the needs of residents with different medical issues.

In a phone interview, Año said Sotto’s proposal is illogical and counterproductive.

“Allowing tricycles to operate is a foolish thing to do,” Ano said, adding loal officials should follow established protocols to ensure the success of the quarantine.

“The key of a lock down is suspending all public transportation. If you allow one, you cannot guard anymore people from roaming around,” he said. There are around 50,000 tricycles all over Metro Manila. “We do not have enough policemen to check tricycles,” he said.

He said Sotto should look for other solutions such as requesting for additional vehicles from government agencies such as the Department of Transportation, the Armed Forces of the Philippines or the Philippine National Police.

He said people in need of emergency medical care can always call the national emergency hotline 911 for assistance.

For Manila, Mayor Isko Moreno said he would allow 189 units of e-trikes to be deployed as additional frontliners in the city.

“They will have work and they will have salary. They will ferry healthcare workers to and from the hospitals,” Moreno said during a live broadcast on Facebook.

The e-trikes will be assigned to the city’s six district hospitals – Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center, Ospital ng Tondo, Justice Jose Abad Santos General Hospital, Ospital ng Manila, and Ospital ng Sampaloc.

The Manila public information office said the deployment of e-trikes in the city is different from the scheme being pushed by Sotto for Pasig City.

Last week, residents living in the boundary of Manila and Caloocan in Maypajo complained that e-trikes drivers taking advantage of the lockdown by charging excessive rates.

Manila’s PIO said details of the plan to allow the e-trikes to service health workers would be released later.

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