Kuliglig Drivers Condemn Violent Dispersal by Police, Gain Lawmakers’ Support

 Kuliglig Drivers Condemn Violent Dispersal by Police, Gain Lawmakers’ Support

By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com
Sidebar: Kuliglig, Pedicab Drivers Protest Highlights Lack in Jobs, Mass Transport
MANILA — The kuliglig is one of the quickest ways to go in and around Metro Manila’s inner streets. It can navigate the smallest alleys with ease.

If only the struggle by the drivers of these uniquely Filipino contraptions to keep their jobs and livelihood were as trouble-free.

In fact, the efforts to keep the “linyas,” or what passes for a public-transport route franchise, for the kuligligs have been arduous for the many people who earn primarily from owning and driving these vehicles.

“(Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim) did not give us any jobs. We were the ones who found this. What is his right to take it away from us?” Fernando Picorro, spokesman of the Alyansa ng Nagkakaisang Pedicab at Kuliglig Drivers ng Maynila (ALNAPEDKU), said in a press conference on December 2. Picorro and his group urged both the local and national government to act in the interest of poor people like the kuliglig drivers.

Fernando Picorro, spokesman of Alyansa ng Nagkakaisang Pedicab at Kuliglig Drivers ng Maynila (Photo by Janess Ann J. Ellao / bulatlat.com)

Through Executive Order Nos. 16 and 17, Lim banned kuligligs from Manila’s main streets. He altogether banned the kuliglig from the streets of Ermita. Both executive orders were issued on September 2. But in an interview, Picorro said the city government “did not conduct any consultation with us.”

EO No. 16 stipulates that the engines that the kuligligs use could not be registered with the Land Transportation Office. It said there has been “mounting complaints against their continued operation as they cause pollution and contribute to the worsening traffic situation.”

The EO No. 17, on the other hand, states that banning the operation of three-wheeled vehicles from Ermita would meet the “need to maintain road sanity and full compliance with all traffic rules.”.... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2010/12/04/kuliglig-drivers-condemn-violent-dispersal-by-police-gain-lawmakers-support/