The Muntinlupa City government is set to legalize close to 500 tricycle drivers and operators doing business in the city without permits in a bid to legitimize their status and prevent their continued apprehension by traffic enforcers.
“These ‘colorum’ tricycles have been operating for years. We want to change their status so they can operate legally for their own protection,” Mayor Aldrin San Pedro said.
He said that by giving the tricycle drivers and operators “legal character,” it will help them earn more because they could operate the whole day.
“Colorum tricycles usually operate at night to evade arrest. Once they are legalized, tricycle drivers can earn more for their family,” he added.
The proposal was discussed during the first Peace and Order Council meeting, which was chaired by Mayor San Pedro and attended by Muntinlupa police chief Superintendent Alfredo Valdez and other department heads.
Rodolfo Oliquino, head of the city’s Business Permit and Licensing Office, said 4,551 tricycles have been granted a franchise by the city’s Tricycle Regulatory Unit while there are 434 tricycles that are operating illegally.
There are reportedly 26 tricycle operators and drivers associations in the nine barangays in the city.
Oliquino said they will ask the Muntinlupa City Council to pass an ordinance to amend the number of allowed tricycle units in Muntinlupa to accommodate the illegal tricycles.
Aside from this, the city government has been waging a campaign against illegal jeepney and bus terminals, especially in the Alabang area.
San Pedro recently ordered the closure of an illegal bus terminal in Alabang. The bus company reportedly used the sidewalk as its terminal, which violates a city ordinance. – Rhodina Villanueva