DILG insists: Tricycles, pedicabs still banned in national highways

The Department of the Interior and Local Government has clarified that tricycles and pedicabs are still prohibited in national highways in all general community quarantine and modified GCQ areas.

"Nililinaw po ng DILG na bawal pa rin ang tricycles at pedicabs sa national highways kahit pa nasa GCQ o MGCQ level na ang ilang lokalidad. Bago pa man magsimula ang pandemya ng COVID-19 corona ay ipinagbabawal na ito ng batas para na rin sa kaligtasan ng publiko,” DILG spokesman Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said in a press statement on Thursday night.

The clarification came after Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque announced that tricycles, pedicabs and other vehicles with sidecars are now allowed in national highways to cater to the transportation needs of commuters due to the lack of mass transport vehicles at this time.

According to the DILG, local government units are the ones regulating the operation of tricycles and pedicabs in secondary roads, stressing that safety and health protocols must be observed when they ply the streets.

"Pinapayagan lamang po ang operasyon ng tricycles sa secondary roads at ipinag-uutos na ng Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) ang one-passenger, no-back ride policies sa lahat ng GCQ at MGCQ areas,” DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said.

"Ang pamamasada ng tricycles sa secondary roads ay konsiderasyon sa mga tricycle drivers na nakasalalay ang kabuhayan dito subalit kailangang sundin ang mga pag-iingat na bahagi na ng ating ‘new normal,'" he added.

The DILG reminded localities that all forms of public transport vehicles, including the tricycles and pedicabs, should be regularly disinfected.  —LBG, GMA News