Manila mayor Joseph Estrada. INQUIRER file photo
The City of Manila decided to allow a ‘window period’ of 10am to 3pm for truckers to ply their routes. Manila had earlier announced a total daytime truck ban on the city’s streets. The modification followed a meeting with exporters and government officials, who expressed concern that the restrictions would adversely affect businesses.
Manila Vice Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said, “The new truck ban will be enforced except that there will be an extension during daytime. It’s a good start. We gave way to the request of the import-export industry and I want to [make it] clear [that it was not] because of the truckers’ threat.”
The window period will be in effect starting on Monday for about six to eight months to allow businesses to transfer operations to the Subic and Batangas ports, he said.
The expanded truck ban allows eight-wheelers and vehicles with a gross weight of over 4,500 kilograms to ply roads in Manila only between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., seven hours longer than the current one. Trucks carrying perishables and petroleum products, as well as vehicles used for government projects, are exempted from the ban, which is lifted on Sundays and holidays.
Manila also announced that it was considering granting exemptions for truckers for an annual fee, just like it did when it implemented a bus ban last year. Domagoso said the granting of exemptions was being studied by the Traffic Management Council headed by Mayor Joseph Estrada. The fee may range from P400 to P800 per truck every year.
With report by Erika Sauler
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