5 Metro Manila cities allow tricycles

MANILA, Philippines — Five cities in Metro Manila – Caloocan, Navotas, Valenzuela, Marikina and Pasig – have allowed tricycles to resume operations.

The five city government followed Quezon City, which allowed tricycles to operate on Friday.

The tricycles will be limited to one passenger under the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).

Tricycles allowed to ply the streets should have a plastic sheet between the passenger and driver’s side. Drivers are also required to wear masks and face shields.

In Caloocan, tricycle operators and drivers are allowed to operate from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. pending the issuance of a resolution by the city council allowing them to travel, according to city public safety and traffic management head Jay Bernardo.

He recommended that the council impose a coding system for tricycles during the MECQ.

In Valenzuela, tricycles, pedicabs and e-trikes should have a cash tray for passengers to put their fare so there would be no need for hand contact with the driver, according to the city’s public information office.

A coding system would also be in place in Valenzuela. E-trikes, which have bigger space, are allowed to have three passengers one seat apart.

Mayor Rex Gatchalian told tricycle and pedicab operators that they will be “highly regulated” during the MECQ.

Tricycles in Navotas are also allowed to ply the road on a one-passenger capacity, Mayor Toby Tiangco said.

As for his appeal to have Navotas remain under enhanced community quarantine, Tiangco said he would defer to the decision of the government to put the entire Metro Manila under MECQ.

He had wanted Navotas to continue on extreme lockdown due to rising cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

For Tiangco, the guidelines under the MECQ that allow limited outdoor exercise while wearing face masks would render the stay at home policy “useless.”

“It is also not safe to exercise with masks  because you will inhale the CO2 that you exhale.  But that is what they want, so we will comply,” Tiangco said, adding that he fears a second wave of infections.

Meanwhile, tricycles and e-trikes are still not allowed to operate pending guidelines in Malabon, according to city information chief Bong Padua.

The Manila city government has yet to release its guidelines to allow tricycles to operate in the city.

Marikina Mayor Marcy Teodoro said tricycle and pedicab operations will resume today with drivers to undergo mass testing by next week.

Teodoro said that operators and drivers of tricycles and pedicabs will undergo testing for COVID-19 the whole week next week to ensure that their passengers are safe.

He added that he expects tricycle and pedicab operators and drivers to follow health and safety guidelines and social distancing.

Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto yesterday announced that the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has approved the guidelines for tricycle operations in the city, which will start tomorrow.

The guidelines mandate one passenger per tricycle only, unless for emergencies, as well as a barrier between the driver and commuter.

The driver should also disinfect the vehicle at least twice a day. The city government will provide the disinfectant.

In March, Sotto appealed for tricycles to continue operating in order to ferry frontliners. When the DILG rejected his appeal, the mayor distributed bicycles for the city’s health workers to use.