‘Dirty Harry’ cracks down on ‘kuliglig’ in Manila
MANILA, Philippines—“Dirty Harry” Wednesday began a crackdown on the new “King of the Road”—motorized pedicabs, called kuliglig, that are emblematic of the dramatic deterioration of the country’s public transportation system.
Police, implementing Mayor Alfredo Lim’s Executive Order No. 17 banning the three-wheeled motorized contraptions on main roads in Manila, seized 81 defying the directive near 168 Mall in Divisoria and Legarda.
Drivers of the rickshaws—named after the manufacturer of the engine, Cricket—were equally determined to fight the measure, accusing the government of depriving them of their livelihood.
“We are not robbing them of their livelihood, but they have to follow the law,” Lim said.
Tired, hungry and angry, hundreds of them parked their sputtering junk on Padre Burgos Street in front of City Hall after police blocked them from converging at the Bonifacio Shrine for a rally, pelting the officers with bottles and stones and tying up traffic for hours.
One policeman and a bystander were injured, according to Supt. Felipe Lafuente, and several protesters were arrested.
Lim, who as former Manila police chief earned renown as the Philippine version of the San Francisco detective in the “Dirty Harry” movies for his tough stand against criminals, wanted to get rid of the ubiquitous motorcycle taxis for polluting the already poisonous air in the city and endangering passengers.
Compromise
The city government had advised the drivers to compromise by removing their motors and simply going back to pedaling their cabs.
Alyansa ng Nagkakaisang Pedicab at Kuliglig Drivers (Alnapedku) spokesperson Fernando Picorro said that, whether machine or manual-powered, EO 17 really would rob pedicabs of their earnings as most operated on major roads where the passengers are plenty.
On Tuesday night, the drivers drove to Liwasang Bonifacio for an overnight vigil. On Wednesday morning, they proceeded to City Hall, where Lim’s chief of staff, Ricardo de Guzman, told them the ban was still on.
Tired, the drivers decided to converge at the Bonifacio Shrine. Some drivers, losing hope and getting agitated, started blocking Burgos Avenue despite pleadings from their leaders after police stopped them.
Opinion..
“The Supreme Court is our only hope, but even they seem to be sleeping on it,” Picorro said, referring to the petition for temporary restraining order Alnapedku filed last week against the ban.
The court, in a resolution Wednesday, threw the petition to the regional trial court for litigation. Spokesperson Gleo Guerra said the tribunal is not “a trier of facts.”
Cricket motors were essentially designed to power small fishing boats, irrigation pumps and small generators. In rice paddies, they served as small hand tractors, a move hailed by farmers as the start of mechanized farming.
Ingenious Filipino mechanics put the relatively cheap motors using diesel fuel on their pedal-powered tricycles that soon became the new king of the road.
Kuligligs in recent years shoved aside jeepneys that in the past decades had elbowed out buses from major roads as the government shied away from what in other countries is regarded as a major responsibility and giving away franchises became a major source of largesse for corrupt officials in the country’s transport agencies.
Reference:www.PhilippineInquirer/google.com
