Trike woes on four-stroke
Posted on November 15, 2006 - Filed Under General |
THE question, thrown while the tricycle was in motion amid the road noise, caught us by surprise: “Akin, sir, bankrap lan tua kasi so siyudad?” (Why, sir, is the city now really bankrupt?)
It was the tricycle driver wondering why they have to pay a whooping P1,000 for the renewal of their franchise to the city by next year when it had already been raised from the original P200 to P500 just sometime back. We hadn’t been prepared for that sudden query and we simply mumbled the city has many obligations and will need funds for it.
The trike driver (he must have recognized us as a mediaman or our appearance had simply struck him as being someone in the know) proceeded to pour out his woes on economic issues like the impending phaseout by next year of the two-stroke motor engines. He claimed that nearly half of the present trikes on the road will be affected as they could not afford to convert to four-stroke to comply with the provisions of the Clean Air Act.
We noted, as he rambled on while we negotiated Perez Boulevard on a Sunday light traffic, that the poor guy was all for a clean air as mandated by law but would welcome some assistance from government for making their units compliant with the law. “Agkomet labay ya mandutak na dagem tayo, sir, no sikatotan so ibabagara ya say two-istrok manggaway polusyon, balet antoey gaween mi ey ta makisir so anap-bilay, ibantak mi labatlayay traysikel mi tan ontangay lay pamilya mid tawen, sir? (I don’t also like to be a cause of air pollution with my two stroke tricycle engine but what can we do, we only have meager income; should we just throw our tricycle away and look up to Heaven for support, sir?)
Somehow, he’s got a point. He was decent enough to leave unsaid his recourse should they keep them off the road for having two-stroke engines, that is, go and do illegal acts for their family to survive, what else?
Government study groups from the DOTC, LTO, DPWH and local government units might do well to recommend some subsidy for the marginal poor among trike drivers for them to convert their units to the mandated four-stroke. It’s the most human act government can do under the circumstance – or risk a fallout on peace and order from suddenly jobless folk out to make their family eat at all cost.
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