Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Introduction

Background of the Study

In the present era, where effective mass transportation became one of the main

problems of the government, a lot of different transport services had arisen. From

application-based transport service, to the traditional jeepney, bus, tricycle and the

widely used door to door (habal-habal) means of transportation, all had tried to survive

in the market. This created stiff competitions which at times would give birth to

dilemmas which challenge the legalities of the operations of these varied transport

services.

Just recently, the whole country was stirred by the sudden rap the Land

Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) had given to Mobile

Application-based giant transport providers Uber and Grab which the netizens

negatively reacted into. Some argued the importance of these app-based transport

service providers demeriting the widely-used taxi transportation.

In the local level, however, the same problem is also evident between Legitimate

transport Operators and Drivers and the widely accepted door to door (habal-habal)

means of transportation. While the habal-habal transport became more convenient and

budget-friendly for commuters, one of the major key players in the market resisted- the

Tricycle Operators and drivers. They claimed that while they are legitimate transport

providers due to their passing of the requirements given by agencies like Land

Transportation Office (LTO), LTFRB and the Local Government Unit (LGU), these
habal-habal transport providers do not undergo such making them illegitimate and

illegal.

Guillen (2004), in his article “Tricycle and habal-Habals” argued that the latter is

an illegal local public transport since it do not undergo regulations from any government

agency and it is not recognized and allowed to operate in the Local Government code of

the Philippines.

Demicillo (2016), on the other hand, in her opinion, “Regulating habal-habal in

the cities” argued the need to grant franchise to habal-habal motorcycles so the

government could regulate its operation should such decision would not deter any

national law.

It is stated in Republic Act No. 4136, specifically in Chapter II, Article I, section 5

that:

All motor vehicles and other vehicles must be registered. And No motor vehicle shall be

used or operated on or upon any public highway of the Philippines unless the same is

properly registered.

It is also indicated in Article I, Section 19 of the same Act the Duty of the drivers

to procure license by highlighting that:

No person shall operate any motor vehicle without first procuring a license to drive a

motor vehicle.
 This has been the anchor of the claims of some the need for door to door (habal-

habal) transportation providers to be recognized and registered first as public transport

service provider before they could continue with their services.

It are also claims that there is a need for the habal-habal drivers to be

professionalized and licensed as it is a standard that has long been practiced for drivers

of public utilized vehicles.

As cited by Rappler.com in the article “What laws help keep road users safe in

the Philippines?” There are a lot of laws to be followed if one wants to drive any motor

vehicle in the public highway whether it would be private or public, small or big, for profit

or for leisure and that one has to abide by the standards and laws the government had

provided for at all cost to ensure safety and eradicate road crashes and accidents.

The researcher chooses this study because of the dire need to analyze the

legalities of the continuous operation of these door to door (habal-habal) transport

providers. While this study would try to find out the possible advantages and

disadvantages of the habal-habal transport, the researcher would be more than eager to

also determine the reasons why it has become one of the best choices of transport for

commuters. However, there are also a lot of problems that had arisen between the

habal-habal transport providers and the long running legitimate transport operators and

Drivers (Tricycle) due to the growing competition in the market. The researcher also

recognized the need to address these problems for it to not give birth to future

dilemmas.
Objectives

Generally, this study aims to identify the problems encountered by Legitimate

Transport Drivers and Operators against door to door (habal-habal) means of

transportation and analyze possible legal sanctions if ever there is violation of laws and

ordinances.

Specifically, this study aims to:

1. Identify the profile of the respondents in terms of their Socio-Economic Status;

a. Occupation

b. Educational Attainment

c. Age

d. Gender

e. Address/Common transportation origin

2. Identify the commuters’ reasons of choosing door to door (habal-habal) over

legitimate transportation (tricycle).

3. Identify the problems encountered by Legitimate Transport Drivers and Operators

against door to door (habal-habal) means of transportation.

a. The sudden rise in number of door to door (habal-habal) transport providers

b. The more lax process of acquiring a motorcycle unit

4. Analyze possible legal sanctions Legitimate Transport Drivers and Operators could

demand against Door to Door (habal-habal) means of transportation providers.

5. Determine the actions undertaken by the LGU and Transport Groups in countering

problems encountered by Legitimate Transport Drivers and operators against door to

door (habal-habal) means of transportation.

6. Determine possible solutions to the problems encountered by Legitimate Transport

Operators and Drivers against door to door (habal-habal) means of transportation.

Statement of the Problem

This study would like to answer the following problems:

1. What is the Socio-Economic status of the respondents in terms of; Occupation,

Educational Attainment, Age, Gender, Address/Common transportation origin?

2. What is the commuters’ choice of transport (tricycle or habal-habal)?

3. What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Riding Tricycle and Door to Door

(habal-habal)?

4. What are the commuters’ reasons of choosing door to door (habal-habal) over

legitimate transportations?

5. What are the problems encountered by Legitimate Transport Drivers and Operators

against door to door (habal-habal) means of transportation?

6. What could be the possible legal sanctions Legitimate Transport Drivers and

Operators could demand against door to door (habal-habal) transportation providers?

7. What are the actions undertaken by the LGU and Transport Groups in countering the

Problems encountered by Legitimate Transport Operators and Drivers against door to

door (habal-habal) means of transportation?

8. What are the possible solutions to the problems encountered by Legitimate Transport

Operators and Drivers against door to door (habal-habal) means of transportation?

Significance of the Study

Any input from this study could lead to a better perspective of understanding

and countering the emerging problems encountered by Legitimate Transport Operators

and Drivers against door to door (habal-habal) means of transportation.

Based from the possible findings, this study will be deemed important to the

following persons concerned:

Partido College. Our College, as an institution that caters to the needs of the

4th District of Camarines Sur (Partido) could help in informing the general public to act

with diligence to counter the problems emerging from the clash of door to door drivers

and legitimate transport drivers and operators.

Students.This study may help them realize the need to fully understand the

status of the arising problems in our transport systems.

Local Government Unit (LGU): This study could better help the LGU to

create ordinances to better facilitate both the use of the existing Legitimate Transport

and Door to Door (habal-habal) means of transportation to stop possible future

dilemma.

Land Transportation Office (LTO): This study could help the Land

Transportation Office in creating better policies and actions to help both the

Legitimate Transport Operators and Drivers and door to door (habal-habal) means of

transportation with their problems.

Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB): The LTFRB,

likewise could help the transport operators and drivers in securing franchise for them

to better provide effective transport services.

 NGO’S. The help that they will be extending may be given both to Legitimate

Transport Operators and Drivers and door to door (habal-habal) transport providers

to solve the problems they both posed.

Policy makers. The result of this research may contribute to the

considerations that our policy makers may make that will concern transport drivers

and operators.

Future Researchers. This study provides informative results for those who

wanted to conduct elaborative and in-depth study in the area of legitimate and door to

door (habal-habal) transport means.

Relevance to the Course

The study of criminology has different focuses and its interdisciplinary and

applied nature makes it significant to solving the different problems in the society. Two

of the aspects that criminology studies are traffic control and transport legalities. This

undertaking is deemed relevant to the researchers’ course because:

A. The emerging question of the legalities of the operation of these door to door

(habal-habal) transport providers will be a point of analysis and this is one duty of a

PNP personnel.

B. As future probable employees of government agencies such as LTFRB, LTO,

PNP, and the LGU, the conduct of this research will be an exposure to real-life

problems the commuters, drivers and operators face everyday which needs attention.
 C. This research would be an avenue for the researcher to conduct in-depth

analysis of the different responses and cases to be provided by the respondents. This

would develop both the researchers’ critical thinking abilities to gauge data and facts,

separate it from opinions and subjectivities and triangulate to ensure accuracy,

consistency and veracity of all the information provided by the respondents. These too

are qualities that a future PNP personnel should possess.

Scope and Delimitation

This research study will identify the problems encountered by Legitimate

Transport Drivers and Operators (tricycle drivers and operators) against door to door

means of transportation through interviews and questionnaire. From the problems

determined, the researcher will then analyze possible legal sanctions if ever there is

violation of laws and ordinances.

Based from the quantitative and qualitative data gathered, the researcher will try

to provide and/or identify solutions to the problems.

While the door to door (habal-habal) means of transportation system

respondents will be purposely selected from among the door to door drivers in Goa

Poblacion, the Legitimate transport operators and drivers will be limited to tricycle

drivers only which will also be purposely selected.

This research will also be conducted in Goa Poblacion which will be the locale of

the study.
Locale of the Study

Goa

Figure 1. Map of Camarines Sur with the municipality of Goa

Municipality of Goa

Goa is a Philippine municipality in the province Camarines Sur in Region V Bicol

Region which belongs to the Luzon group of islands. The municipality Goa is seated

about 25 km east-north-east of province capital Pili and about 286 km east-south-east

of Philippine main capital Manila.

Goa is a 2nd class municipality. Regarding urbanization Goa is classified as

partly urban. Goa occupies an area of 206.18 km². By the end of 2007 Goa was the

home of 54,035 residents. Thus by average 262.08 people are living on one km².

Administratively the Municipality of Goa is subdivided into 34 barangays. 10

compose the center of the city wheras the other 24 are in the outlying areas. Some of

them are even several kilometers away from the center of the Municipality. The most

populous are Tamban (Mabini), San Jose (Pob.), Panday (Pob.), Scout

Fuentebella, San Juan Evangelista (Pob.),Maymatan, La Purisima (Pob.), San Isidro

(Pob.), San Pedro (Aroro), San Juan Bautista (Pob.), Lamon, Bagumbayan Grande

(Pob.), Balaynan, San Isidro West, Maysalay.

Among the bigger cities and municipalities in the neighborhood of Goa there

are City Of Sorsogon (Sorsogon) 93 km south-east, City Of Tabaco(Albay) 45 km south-

east, City Of Ligao (Albay) 53 km south, Legazpi City (Albay).