ABIDING WITH PROTOCOLS. A tricycle unit is equipped with transparent plastic separators at a passenger loading station in Kidapawan City on Tuesday (July 8, 2020). Members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod on Tuesday rejected an appeal by the 3,000-member Federation of Kidapawan Integrated Tricycle Association to increase their number of passengers from two to four due to the existing modified general community quarantine status in North Cotabato province. (PNA photo by John Andrew Tabugoc)
KIDAPAWAN CITY – Members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) here have rejected an appeal by the city’s tricycle association to increase from two to four its number of passengers.
Councilor Ruby Padilla-Sison, chair of the SP committee on transportation, endorsed the proposal during Tuesday's regular SP session before it was rejected by the majority for violating existing guidelines under the modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) status of the province.
The majority of the SP members said the proposition was in contravention of existing national laws and regulations mandated by the National Inter-Agency Task Force on coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) to limit the number of passengers of public utility vehicles by 50 percent, including tricycles.
According to Sison, officers of the Federation of Kidapawan Integrated Tricycle Association (FKITA) earlier appealed to her to increase the number of allowable passengers to compensate for their daily earnings.
“Currently, only two passengers are allowed in a tricycle with the same amount of fare that really affected their daily income”, Sison said.
Jabby Omandac, FKITA president, expressed disappointment over SP decision but vowed to continually support the local government unit in all its effort to implement ample restrictions in the fight against Covid-19.
“Yes, I am dismayed, but we as a federation will stand firm on the ground to support all measures of the city government against this disease”, Omandac said in the vernacular.
All public utility vehicles operating around the city are still required to install transparent plastic separators to guarantee proper distancing among passengers. The FKITA has an estimated 3,000 members. (PNA)
