The main streets of Roxas City is suffering from heavy traffic during rush hours that causes
Inconvenience.
I will argue that the problem of heavy traffic in Roxas City can be solved through
adopting either or all of the following options, to wit:
First option is to strictly implement the law on the prohibition of tricycles to operate in national
high ways. Per Republic Act No. 4136 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, prior DILG
directives – DILG Memorandum Circulars (MCs) 2020-036, 2020-004, 2011-68, and 2007-11
– have already been issued prohibiting the operation of tricycles and pedicabs on national roads
and prescribing the operating conditions and franchising of tricycles, (Parrocha, 2020).
The tricycles and pedicabs are the main causes of heavy traffic in the main streets of Roxas City due
to lack of discipline on the observance of traffic rules and regulations of the drivers of this
vehicles. Further, the proliferation of colorum operators within the city added to the main
problem. Since they are free to operate without the legal documents and proper orientations on
the observance of traffic rules.
Thus, sometimes resulted to major traffic accidents and even crimes involving the drivers of colorum
tricycles.
In December 2012, The Philippine Star, published that the then Interior and Local Government Secretary
Mar Roxas has directed the Roxas City police in Capiz to hunt down a driver of a colorum tricycle, who
along with a companion, raped and stabbed a 19-year-old female student and left her for dead, (Sison Jr,
et al. 2012).
However due to human considerations, the Roxas City government issued franchise to
legitimate tricycle drivers and operators to legally operate within the city as a main public
transportation, but they should be in the minor streets only and strictly not to be allowed in the
major highways of the city proper. The same regulation should be applied to all private tricycle
units within the city. With this I believed that it will reduce the problem of heavy traffic within
Roxas City.
Second option is to prohibit the activities of ambulant and side walk vendors in every streets of
Roxas City whereas their presence causes heavy traffic and inconvenient to public. In 2019, the
study of Kibret Gebremedhin Hagos, of Hasselt University revealed that the presence of sidewalk
vendors had a direct effect on lateral deviation of pedestrians whose desired trajectory
conflicts with the location of a vending stall and an indirect effect on other pedestrians.
Pedestrians have to deviate laterally to avoid sidewalk vendors and its customer while maintaining
a personal space from opposing pedestrians. This implies that there is a decline in perceived
Pedestrian Level of Service (PLOS) with the presence of sidewalk vendor because pedestrian
perceived PLOS decline in with an increase in number of evasive actions by a pedestrian. Thus,
the size of lateral deviation of a pedestrian from its desired trajectory has increased in
conjunction with an increase in width of vending stall that resulted to heavy traffic on busy
streets.
The local government of Roxas City shall exercise its authority in the regulation of the public
domain in order to maintain order in traffic flow through DILG MC2019-193, titled “Regulating
the use of Streets, Avenues, Alleys, Sidewalks, Parks and other Public Places within LGU
Jurisdiction.”
In June 2017, Roxas City Vendors will no longer be allowed on sidewalks and
streets in this city as the former Mayor Angel Alan Celino said in an interview in Panay News
“It is high time to clear the sidewalks of illegal structures and vendors.
The sidewalk belongs to the pedestrians and we cannot allow these violators to steal it away from
them.” The Ordinance has good purpose but its implementation should be consistent, since the “ningas
cogon” is already part of our system and culture with great enthusiasm at the start of the
implementation but ultimately put off along the way as if nothing happened. However, when the city
government will an apply Iron Hand and consistency in the implementation of this Ordinance I believed
the problem of heavy traffic will be solved.
The third option is to impose the implementation of No Parking Space, No Car Policy. There
is a Bill titled “No Parking Space, No Car,” filed by Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco,
who authored House Bill 3, requiring car buyers in urban areas to have their own garage or
parking space first before purchasing and registering their vehicle to help reduce congestion
along roadsides and sidewalks. “When roads become parking lots, there will be longer trip times
and increased vehicle queuing,” the former House Speaker said in the explanatory note of his
bill, (Colcol, 2022). Though it has not been pass into law but Roxas City may opt to implement
a policy since it has already an existing Ordinance prohibiting illegal parked vehicles. While
there is a rapid increase in numbers of vehicles running along the streets, the existing road lanes is still
the same which resulted to congestion of our public roads. The unscrupulous vehicle
owners also escalate the problem by using public roads as their parking space, not only single
but often times double parking. Further, the city government can make it mandatory for
commercial establishments to provide free parking for their customers since majority
establishments in Roxas City do not have available parking space for their clients that use streets
for parking.
Traffic is considered to be the perennial problem in our city. But the different studies revealed
that if the suggested options were adopted, this problem can be solved.
Therefore, the City Government must strictly prohibit tricycles to operate in national highways,
prohibit the activities of ambulant and side walk vendors in every streets, and implement the
No Parking Space, No Car Policy in order to solve the problem of heavy traffic.
