Shooting violators
Tricycle drivers warned to stay off national roads
TRICYCLES should no longer ply the national highway because Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte has given local authorities a strong order to discipline its drivers.
Duterte said he wants hard-headed tricycle driv- ers shot to death.
He said he implements harsh rules in the city to keep people disciplined and follow national and local laws.
Hence, starting today, all tricycles found traversing along national highways will be confiscated.
“Naa may baril ang pulis. Kung delikado inyong kinabuhi, tigbason mo eh di pusila. Unya sultihi ko
kay ako hatag sa abogado. Unya muingon ko sa korte nga ayaw na prisuha ang pulis, judge, kay ako man ng sugo. Kung dili pud nako na suguon ng pulis, kaning Ombudsman ako pud ipapreso (The police have guns. If your life is at risk, shoot them. Don’t worry because I will provide you lawyers. I will also tell the Court to absolve you because you just followed my order. If I will not do it, the Office of the Ombudsman will go against me),” Duterte said during the Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa yesterday.
He also gave Task Force Davao the authority to arrest tricycle drivers.
The stern warning of Duterte stemmed from a vehicular accident involving a bus and a tricycle in Toril during the previous week, killing the tricycle driver and his passenger.
A CCTV footage of the highway where the Task Force Davao has its checkpoint in Toril showed several vehicles entering Davao City when from behind these vehicles a tricycle suddenly turned left, apparently to cross the highway, right in the way of a Metro Shuttle Bus on the opposite lane going out of Davao.
Duterte said issuing a temporary operator’s permit (TOP) is not enough to instill discipline among hard-headed drivers.
“Dili na traffic violation (That is not a traffic violation). It’s a motor vehicle that’s not supposed to be there,” he said.
Duterte explained that he has to implement harsh policies because stubborn drivers are disobeying laws.
He said even closed-cab tricycles should be eliminated from plying along the national highway.
“They’re not supposed to be there. A human life is a human life. Give way jud mo. Padaplin jud mo (You should stay off),” he said.
Last Tuesday, 17th City Council Floor leader Councilor Bernard Al-ag passed a resolution urging the Traffic Management Office and the Highway Patrol Group to strictly implement the policy on national highway.
He also passed another resolution urging the land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to “open a new jeepney route franchise from Crossing Baracatan to Toril Poblacion.”
The proposal was backed up by Duterte. ANC