Assailed truck ban law now with city council

By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY – Following furor over the law on truck ban in this city, Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan said he proposed exemptions to truckers deserving of exemption from the new truck ban ordinance but council members have different interpretations on the matter so he is leaving the matter to the sole discretion of the local legislators.

“We tried to accord exemptions to the sectors by issuing Administrative Order No. 050, series of 2017 which direly need the exemption from the truck ban but it seems our local legislators refuse to cooperate with us by neither confirming our administrative order nor passing a resolution temporarily suspending the implementation of the truck ban ordinance while they are working on the amendments to the ordinance being questioned,” Domogan said.

He said there is urgency and merit to the submitted requests for exemption from the coverage of the new truck ban that is why he was constrained to issue the administrative order, an offshoot of several meetings with stakeholders as well as La Trinidad Mayor Romeo Salda and La Trinidad chief of police Chief Inspector Benson Macliing.

Lately, the City Council returned to the City Mayor the administrative order that was forwarded to them for confirmation unacted upon while approving on second reading and for publication the ordinance that seeks to amend several provisions of Ordinance No. 05, series of 2017, particularly the truckers that should be exempted from the coverage of the truck ban.

Domogan recommended to the concerned sectors to continue lobbying with the members of the city council for the immediate enactment of the amendatory ordinance so that the members of the council will be able to see the urgency of the matter as this affects the delivery of basic services to the people.

Under the ordinance, 6-wheeler trucks having a gross weight of 4,500 tons, heavy equipment, trailers among others are prohibited from passing along the major roads of the city from 6 am to 9 am and from 4 pm to 9 pm daily.

Among the trucks that need to be granted immediate exemption from the coverage of the truck ban include those loaded with perishable goods and cutflowers, trucks loaded with mine ore concentrate, water delivery trucks, gasoline tankers and trucks used to ferry construction materials.