The Bacolod City government will not be announcing when and where it will conduct its impounding operations against about 10,000 illegally operating tricycles in Bacolod City, Councilor Al Victor Espino said Monday, February 20.
The campaign that was to start on Monday was delayed because uniforms and identification cards had not been distributed to the deputized agents composed of the presidents of about 60 groups under the Tricycle Operators and Drivers’ Association (TODA), he said.
There are an estimated 15,000 tricycles operating in Bacolod City and there are only about 5,000 that are registered with franchises, he said.
City Ordinance 650 allows the granting of franchises to only 7,000 tricycles to operate in Bacolod City, Espino said.
Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez is looking into providing alternative livelihoods for the drivers displaced by the city’s halting the operations of tricycles without franchises and business permits, he said.
The tricycle drivers could be hired for garbage collection work, Espino said.*