There is a kind of frustration on our roads that never makes the news. You feel it while driving, see it at intersections, and encounter it in small, repeated moments — when a vehicle stops where it shouldn’t, cuts across where it can’t, or simply ignores the flow everyone else is trying to follow. This is not confusion, and it is not a lack of rules. It is a lack of enforcement.
E-tricycles were introduced with good intentions — cleaner transport, lower costs, better access for communities. That part was clear. What is harder to understand is how something that began as a structured program now operates, in many places, without any structure at all.
Look at what is happening on the ground. Units run without plates. Drivers cannot present licenses when asked. In some areas, minors are behind the wheel. These are not isolated cases. They are visible, daily, and largely unchallenged — despite repeated reminders from the Land Transportation Office.
Then there is how they move. They load passengers at corners, sometimes right before intersections. They stop in the middle of the lane, forcing vehicles behind them to brake suddenly. Some counterflow on narrow streets just to shorten a trip. People have seen this so often they’ve started to accept it. That is exactly the problem.
Because this is how accidents happen.
The Philippine Statistics Authority continues to record road accidents as a leading cause of injury and death. In Metro Manila alone, the MMDA logs hundreds of thousands of traffic incidents each year. These are not just numbers. They reflect what people deal with every single day — and part of that experience is tension.
Road rage does not come from nowhere. It builds. A driver follows the lane, observes the stop, keeps distance — then runs into someone who does none of that and faces no consequence. It happens the next day. Then again after that. Eventually, patience runs out. What should have been managed by a system becomes something people argue about on the road.
The breakdown becomes clearest when accidents occur. A registered vehicle collides with an e-tricycle. One side has complete documents — license, registration, insurance. The other has none: no plate, no insurance, sometimes not even a valid license. In some cases, the driver leaves. In others, there is an attempt to settle on the spot — often inadequate, sometimes unresolved.
The cost does not disappear. It is carried by whoever is left to deal with it.
Everyone on the road can see this. It is not hidden. It is simply not being addressed.
This is where the system fails — not in theory, but in practice. Enforcement exists. Enforcers are present. But consistency is missing. In many communities, familiarity gets in the way. Drivers are known. They operate on the same streets every day. Violations are seen but not acted on. Over time, this creates a quiet understanding that some rules apply, and some do not.
There is always the argument about livelihood — and it is valid to acknowledge that many e-tricycle drivers depend on daily income. But livelihood cannot be the basis for exemption. Public roads are shared spaces, and so are the risks. When one group operates without registration, licensing, or insurance, that risk is simply transferred to everyone else.
What makes this situation particularly frustrating is that none of the solutions are new. Registration is basic. Licensing is required. Insurance is standard. Route discipline is not complicated. These requirements have all been defined. They are simply not applied consistently.
Rules are announced, then quietly abandoned after a few weeks. Violations return, and eventually become normal again. People adjust — not because it is right, but because it is easier.
This is how a system breaks down. Not all at once. But enough, every day.
What we are dealing with is no longer just a transport issue. It is a failure to follow through. And until that changes, the pattern will remain: more arguments on the road, more preventable accidents, and more people paying the price for rules that exist on paper but not on the street.
This is not complicated.
It is simply a pinabayaang sistema.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and are intended to encourage public discussion on governance and national issues. They do not represent any official position of the institutions the author may be affiliated with.
About the Author:
Paul Y. Chua, PhD, holds doctoral degrees in Fiscal Management and Peace and Security, and a master’s degree in National Security Administration. He has completed executive programs in several countries, specializing in transport, migration, urban planning, and public policy, with emphasis on governance, innovation, and integrity.
