DILG chief calls for strict tricycle ban on highways

WAITING | Tricycles line up to wait for passengers at a mall in Calasiao, Pangasinan.  (File photo by RAY B. ZAMBRANO)

MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos on Tuesday reminded local government units (LGUs) to ensure public safety by strictly enforcing the regulations barring tricycles, including pedicabs, from plying along national highways.

Abalos’ call came after a tricycle was hit by a passenger bus along a national highway in Labo, Camarines Norte, on February 4.

READ: 2 dead as bus hits tricycle

“It is unfortunate that many LGUs have not been strictly implementing such regulations, which often result in traffic congestion and accidents. LGUs should, therefore, enforce the law because public safety depends on it,” the DILG chief said in a statement.

Based on the Department of the Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) data, Abalos reported that road accidents involving tricycles had reached 2,241, while those involving bikes, e-bikes, and pedicabs were at 2,829 in 2022 alone.

The ban aligns with a memorandum circular (MC) issued by the agency in 2022. Under MC  2020-036, trikes, pedicabs, and motorized pedicabs are prohibited from operating on national highways. The ban was reiterated on MC 2020-145 and released to continue the road clearing.

READ: DILG: Enforce tricycle ban on national highways

Moreover, Abalos said DILG released MC 2023-195 “urging all local chief executives to reorganize or re-convene their Tricycle Task Force to update their Tricycle Route Plan that would include penal provisions for violators.”

However, Abalos said LGUs may issue an exception in cases with no alternative tricycles and pedicab routes in certain areas.

This is under LTO MC 94-199 issued on May 2, 1994, “providing for the guidelines to implement the devolution of LTFRB’s franchising authority over tricycles-for-hire to local government units under the Local Government Code,” he added.