Council committee junks resolution on habal-habal
The proposed measure seeking to regulate the operations of in Cebu City was rejected by the City Council's committee on laws, ordinances, and styling.
habal-habal
Councilor Sisinio Andales, committee chairperson, said there is no national law that will support the regulation of the habalhabal operation.
“Unless and until a national law be enacted regulating motorcycle-for-hire or habal-habal, this committee is constrained to opine that the proposed ordinance is beyond the power of this Sanggunian to enact,” read a portion of the committee report.
The committee report was also signed by its members, Councilors Alvin Arcilla, Joy Augustus Young, and Eugenio Gabuya, Jr.
It was approved, with no objections, during last week's regular session.
In the report, the committee cited Section 7 of Republic Act 4136 which prohibits motorcycles, among others, to be used to transport passengers or freight for pay.
While seeing the need to regulate the habal-habal operations, Andales said this kind of mode of transportation is “unsafe” and unregulated by the national law.
He said Councilor Pastor Alcover, Jr., proponent of the measure, should wait until there's a national law that will regulate the operation of habalhabal before resubmitting it to the City Council.
Alcover, for his part, said he is dismayed with the decision of the committee considering that the habalhabal has been operating for over 20 years already.
“The government has not done anything to regulate this kind of transportation which is being used by the public because of traffic situation of the city,” he said.
Alcover said there are several reasons why the city government should regulate the habal-habal operation.
Operators and drivers of habal-habal should register in the barangay where it operates, he said.
One of the reasons he cited is the imposition of fare matrix once the habal-habal drivers will register in their respective barangays.
Alcover said the city will require habal-habal operators to maintain its vehicles and to ensure that drivers are welltrained so that the safety of the passengers will be assured.
He added the city government will only be involved in the regulation and the issuance of certificate of registration/permit to operate habal-habal without interference to the registration of these vehicles under the Land Transportation Office and the Land Transportation Franchise and Regulatory Board.
Once approved, the drivers and operators of habalhabal will soon be paying from P250 to P500 as annual registration fees.
Under the measure, penalties for violators ranges from P500 to P2,000 depending on the violation for the first offense. Second offense is the suspension of driver's registration for 15 days and third offense is the revocation of the driver's registration.
“The general welfare of the public should be the supreme law. We can no longer avoid the habal-habal because it's been there for a long time. We need to do something to regulate its operation,” Alcover said.
Alcover vowed to resubmit the measure to the legislative body once he meets other legislators.