To further ease traffic in Quezon City now that the Metro Rail Transit 7 is in the thick of construction, the city’s local government is now prohibiting barkers, except in properly designated hubs for public utility jeeps.
City Ordinance 2612-2017, introduced by Councilor Eric Z. Medina, was recently signed by Quezon City Mayor Herbert M. Bautista. Barkers are now only allowed in designated areas as terminals for buses, jeeps and taxis. Bautista said barkers, usually bystanders, oblige drivers to park their public-utility vehicles near road intersections and other densely populated areas while they call for passengers.
The practice has created numerous “undesignated” terminals along Commonwealth Avenue. In the intersection of Philcoa and Elliptical Road, for instance, barkers would call the attention of commuters where to wait for the ride while signaling jeepney drivers to stop.
Jack Mendoza, a barker in Philcoa, collects around P120 to P200 a day from jeepney drivers.
“The drivers usually give us the equivalent of one passenger’s payment for a seater of 20, if we are able to call enough passengers, but many drivers would just toss us P5 or P10 coins,” Mendoza told the BusinessMirror.
Asked to comment on some drivers’ observation that even without them, passengers would naturally hail the jeepneys to stop, the barker only shrugged.
Part of the ordinance read that the practice of these barkers to call the attention of drivers, as a consequence, encourages other “public-utility vehicles to follow just to make sure they are loaded with passengers before they ply.”
The practice causes traffic gridlock, as well as potential harm to pedestrians, commuters and motorists.
Enrique Madura, hearing officer of the Quezon City Department of Public Order and Safety, said the ordinance aims to stop illegal activities in a particular area.
He added both the barker and the PUJ driver will be penalized if caught.