P250-P500 registration fee for habal-habal pushed

All drivers and operators of motor taxi or habal-habal in Cebu City will soon be paying P250 to P500 as annual registration fee.

This, if the reintroduced ordinance granting the Cebu City government the authority to issue local regulatory franchise to operators of motorcycles-forhire would get the nod in the City Council.

"There is an urgent need to organize and register the motorcycle taxi or habal-habal operators and drivers in order to professionalize their services, to ensure the safety of both drivers and passengers and instill discipline among others," read the proposed measure.

City Councilors Jose Daluz III and Pastor Alcover, Jr. proposed the measure.

For the registration, the City Treasurer's Office shall issue the corresponding official receipt.

Half of the collected amount will be given to the corresponding barangay where the driver or operator is registered.

Section 5 of the proposed measure stipulates that no person should engage in the motor taxi business unless the operator is registered with the barangay where it plans to operate.

Before the registration will be completed, the driver will be subjected to a riding skills training and seminar on traffic rules before a driver's ID will be issued.

The registration will be done annually at the Cebu City Transportation Office and the corresponding barangay where the motor taxis will be operating.

They said there is a need to constitute safety measures for habal-habal drivers and commuters, citing the World Health Organization's report saying that 53 percent of road traffic fatalities in the country were from those who are using motorcycles or tricycles.

With this, Daluz and Alcover said penalties should be imposed to operators or drivers who will be caught violating safety rules and traffic laws.

Penalties ranges from P500 to P2,000 depending on the violation.

Alcover said he has noticed that habal-habal and motorized tricycles are widely used as means of public transportation to ferry people and goods in both the mountain and urban barangays of the city.

"In Cebu City, as traffic conditions worsened, commuters are also suffering from the lack of efficient mass transport system, thus the motorcycle taxi practically plagued the urban and rural barangays," the proposed measure reads.

Alcover referred his proposed measure to the council's committee on laws, styling, and ordinances.

The proposed measure will still undergo public hearing after the committee renders its comments and recommendations.