Malabon’s dilemma

Threatened by a further reduction in their daily income because of the strict implementation of a directive from Malabon City Mayor Amado Vicencio to keep them off the city’s main streets, some 400 pedicab drivers and operators staged a protest rally at the city hall yesterday in Malabon.

This developed as Malabon city officials are faced with making a choice between smooth traffic in the city or more unemployed residents.

Members of the Association of Pedicab Operators and Drivers of Malabon (APOM), an umbrella organization composed of 15 pedicab organizations in the city, aired their sentiments against the city government, calling for the repeal of Vicencio’s Executive Order 04-02 ordering "no pedicab" zones in the city’s major thoroughfares.

"Marami ang mawawalan ng hanapbuhay at mapipilitang maghanap ng ibang mapagkakakitaan upang matugunan ang kanilang araw-araw na pangangailangan," engineer Alex Quimson, APOM president, said.

Quimson said the mayor’s order threatens to cut by a hefty 60 percent their present daily take of P200 to P250. He said their daily income would be reduced to P80 to P100 daily. The official said his group is also calling for the firing of Gery Gonzales, chief of the local Public Order and Safety Office (POSO), that among others, oversees tricycle operations in the city, from his job on charges of arrogance and abuse of authority.

Vicencio, however, is standing pat on his decision to strictly enforce the order to keep the "taxi ng Malabon," as the pedicab drivers call their workhorse, off the busy main streets.

Vicencio’s EO also ordered one-way flow of traffic, no parking and tow away zones. The "no pedicab" zones were designated along certain streets of Malabon from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. The order was approved last Jan. 16, 2002 improving a 1992 municipal ordinance (A-1492).

The group alleged in a faxed statement that Vicencio did not observe due process and failed to consult with them in the crafting of the order.