BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved on first reading a proposed ordinance introducing amendments to the exemptions that were earlier provided under the provisions of the city’s new truck ban ordinance to increase its coverage following the series of complaints received by the local government relative to the implementation of the truck ban along the city’s streets.
The ordinance authored by Vice Mayor Edison R. Bilog stated though the main objective of the new truck ban ordinance is laudable as it is towards reducing the traffic congestions in the city, especially during rush hours, various sectors have been clamouring for the immediate introduction of the pertinent amendments to exempt those that provide basic commodities or services to the people such as water delivery trucks and vegetable and fruit dealers being engaged in the delivery of basic entities.
Ordinance No. 05, series of 2017 entitled “Regulating the Use of Streets in the City of Baguio by Heavy Equipment Vehicles, Trailers, Dump Trucks and other Freight Trucks (6-Wheelers and Above), with Gross Weight Capacity of 4,5000 Kilograms or More, Repealing for the Purpose Ordinance No. 52, series of 1976, and Article XI, Section 10 of Ordinance No. 07, series of 1984 and Providing Penalties Therefore” seeks to regulate the use of streets in the city to control, manage, and improve traffic flow in the city.
Under the proposed amendments, those that will be exempted from the coverage of the local legislative measure are water delivery trucks, fire trucks, company trucks of public utility companies actually doing repairs and other maintenance works, government-registered trucks, heavy equipment already at their designated work site, trucks used during emergency situations or calamities, vegetable and fruit dealer trucks and trucks primarily containing perishable goods.
Earlier, the Philex Mining Corporation also wrote the City Council to grant exemption to their trucks plying the city’s streets en route to their station in Poro Point, San Fernando, La Union primarily because their trucks contain mineral ore concentrate which are vital in the country’s economic growth and that the unnecessary delay in the delivery of their mineral ore concentrate to their facility would result to the imposition of penalties that would result to heavy losses on the part of the company.
Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan also forwarded to the City Council Administrative Order No. 50, series of 2017 that detailed the agreements on how the exemptions will be granted by the local government to the truck ban ordinance for confirmation after he suspended for four consecutive times the implementation of the truck ban following the numerous complaints from the affected sectors.
Domogan informed the concerned local legislators that he finds merit to the reasons brought to his attention by the concerned truckers on why they should be granted the exemption from the coverage of the ordinance, thus, the need for the local legislative body to revisit the same and include more sectors from those that must be exempted from the truck ban.
Domongan’s latest suspension of the new truck ban ordinance will expire on April 30, 2017 and its implementation will start on May 1, 2017.
By Dexter A. See
