WAITING
& WORRIED. These habal-habal drivers are awaiting when they will be banned
from operating in the city as Land Transportation Office (LTO) is determined to
implement its ban within city limits starting this week. Foto: JUN GUTIEREZ | | Government
supervision and control is being sought in the operations of the "single
motorcycle for hire", more widely known as "habal-habal".
Instead
of a total ban or phase-out of this mode of transportation, the call to regulate
it has become a common sentiment among habal-habal drivers and the riding public.
The
Land Transportation Office (LTO) regional office is scheduled to crackdown on
erring motorists and to stop habal-habal operation across the province starting
tomorrow.
In
this time of crisis, however, the plight of hundreds of habal-habal drivers who
are depending on this livelihood caught public attention. |
Alfredo
Gutierrez, Jr., president of the Tagbilaran Private Motor Service Association
(TPMSA) - a group of habal-habal drivers in the city, told the Chronicle that
his fellow drivers are willing to comply with the transportation code such as
the mandatory wearing of helmets and limiting their passenger to one.
| | | The
safety of backriders on single motorcycles for hire has been the major concern
of authorities pushing to outlaw habal-habal operations.
According
to Gutierrez, the 121 members of TPMSA are formally requesting the three Bohol
congressmen to help them lobby for the legalization of habal-habal.
"We
are willing to comply with regulations to be imposed and we will pay franchise
fee as long as habal-habal is legalized," he said. | Gutierrez
said that if the main trouble for prohibiting them to convey passengers is safety,
then they agree to carry only one passenger at a time.
"Transporting
one passenger would in fact help other habal-habal drivers since they would also
have the chance to earn money," he stressed.
Habal-habal
does not compete with other regular mode of public utility transport such as tricycles,
jeepneys and multicabs, according to Gutierrez, since they only operate during
nighttime from 8 pm to 6 am.
Likewise,
Gutierrez explained that most of their passengers are those going to areas beyond
the regular routes of public utility transport.
He
also cited instances where passengers prefer to take the habal-habal especially
passengers from the city port late at night because they charge much cheaper than
taxicabs and tricycle.
Gutierrez
disclosed that some of the habal-habal drivers had been in this kind of livelihood
for more than 15 years.
"Most
of us depend on this as our source of income and there are still others who are
financing the motorcycle loan out of their daily earnings," he said.
Presently,
a bill has been passed in Congress for the legalization of habal-habal which was
originally filed by former 3rd district congressman Eladio Jala. It was re-filed
by Rep. Edgar Chatto and was approved last year.
However,
the bill is pending review at the Senate.
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