Mangaldan, Pangasinan – An executive order (EO) issued by Mayor Bonafe De Vera Parayno allowing tricycles and pedicabs to pass along national roads in Poblacion here could make her administratively liable and could cause her suspension or removal from office.
Councilor Aldrin Soriano made this observation on the heels of Parayno’s issuance of Executive Order No. 01 that enabled tricycle and pedicab drivers to travel along the Rizal Avenue national road, a portion of the Pangasinan-La Union highway, and a major artery connecting the municipalities adjoining this town.
Soriano pointed out that under Department of the Interior and Local Government Memorandum Circular No. 2020-036, all local chief executives are ordered to strictly implement the ban on tricycles, pedicabs, and motorized pedicabs on national highways.
Local governments are also tasked to create a tricycle task force that would draw up a tricycle route plan in their locality.
“The Poblacion business district here has several well-cemented municipal roads constructed during the administration of former Mayor Marilyn Lambino that can be used as alternative routes for tricycles and pedicabs,” Soriano noted.
Soriano added, Parayno’s order also violated Republic Act 4136 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code and the prior DILG Memorandum Circulars 2007-11, 2011-68, and 2020-004 that prohibit the presence of tricycles and pedicabs on national roads.
The Sangguniang Bayan here had already passed Municipal Ordinance No. 2021-14, prohibiting tricycles and pedicabs to ply the national roads here, particularly on Rizal Avenue, which is the crossroad leading to other municipalities in central Pangasinan.
The measure was meant to resolve the “horrific” traffic problem in this town’s business district, Soriano said.
However, the councilor said some SB members were being pressured by Parayno to pass a resolution adopting her EO, in violation of existing national laws, the DILG Memorandum Circulars, and the existing municipal ordinance.
Likewise, the mayor has ordered police and traffic enforcers in Mangaldan to allow all tricycles, pedicabs, and other slow-moving vehicles to pass along the national road.