Of trisikads and habal-habals
In the last few years there has been an upsurge of trisikads and habal-habals as means of transportation in barangay roads in Cebu City and other cities in Cebu. Banned from navigating in national roads, these localized vehicles have proliferated in great numbers and are now viewed with concerns by barangay residents.
These concerns center on the fact that these vehicles operate with practically no control by local authorities, particularly by the barangay officials in the area.
Trisikads for their part are required to be officially registered (per a Cebu City ordinance enacted way back in 2009) but implementation has been lax and you can see these carriers operating without plate numbers, an evidence of non-registration. Absence of enforcement has encouraged non-registered trisikads to operate driven by individuals who are also unregistered. Requiring the registration of a driver would have made it compulsory for them to undergo training on basic traffic and safety rules. As it is, almost anybody including minors can mount these vehicles and transport people.
The trisikad ordinance specifies certain roadways which are off-limit to these vehicles. These are usually national roads or main thoroughfare where traffic is usually heavy. But one can see from time to time trisikadsventuring into prohibited roads and nobody is blowing the whistle on them. The reason is that implementation and control are usually left to barngaytanods who of course do not wield as much authority as regular traffic enforcers. Besides, human sentiment plus the Cebuano value of "kalooy" influences the reaction of these tanods towards violators. Thus it's anything goes with trisikad operations in many barangays.
Trisikads like habal-habals are indeed serving the needs of people residing in areas some distance from the national roads where they can catch a ride to the city. Instead of walking they hop into a trisikad thus saving them from the inconvenience of sweating it out under the sun or of getting wet when there's rain. Habal-habal too offers similar services, although most of their riders in lowland areas are school children in the elementary of highschool. Since these rides are allowed to pass through national roads (unliketrisikads) school kids take advantage of them in commuting to and from their school.
Years ago habal-habal riders were unheard to in lowlands barangays like Bulacao, Cebu City. But lately, these motor bikes have proliferated because of the demand of school children to be ferried everyday to their schools and back. But adults too take habal-habal for more distant destinations. Since the pick-up points are right in the center of the barangay, such ride is preferable to PUJ's which are available only in the main roads. Moreover these vehicles take them right near where they are going, thus saving them from leg work.
For decades now the habal-habal has been the only means of travel in upland areas in Cebu. These are rugged places inaccessible to four-wheel vehicles and before the advent of motorbikes the only way to reach them was to hikefor hours. Teachers assigned in mountain barangays used to spend hours in hiking to and from their stations. This was of course plain suffering. But habal-habal has saved them from this, and in effect has saved too rural school children from delayed attendance of classes.
Unlike trisikads, habal-habals are licensed to operate. Their drivers are equipped with authority to drive. Despite this however traffic rules are being violated left and right perhaps because of the absence of traffic enforcers.As a result, accidents happen.
One problem with habal-habals is that their drivers are usually impatient and careless. They seldom observe speed limits, which unfortunately is not prescribed in barangay roads. Many have no mufflers and their noise is deafening. And since some of them are on the road even late at night they are a pain in the neck to retiring residents.
It's about time local authorities step in to regulate the operations of these barangay rides. They are useful as means of travel but problems have crop up which should be attended to.
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