Senator Raffy Tulfo on Wednesday, Dec. 3, pushed for mandatory driver’s licenses and registration for e-trike users, warning that the absence of clear regulations has made traffic enforcement nearly impossible amid rising reports of road incidents involving the vehicles.

During a consultative meeting of the Senate Committee on Public Services, Tulfo said that while current rules exempt some light electric vehicles (LEVs) used privately and not on highways, e-trike operations on secondary, local, and barangay roads with regular traffic should require a specialized driver’s license.

“If it is for private use and hindi gagamitin sa highway, exempted sila sa pagpapa-register. However for me, even if it's not for public use and even if they're not using it as a highway, they're using the secondary road or local roads, barangay roads, as long as may traffic doon at may ibat ibang klaseng (there is traffic there and there are various) vehicles, they must secure driver's license," Tulfo said.

"Maybe a special driver's license for this sector, these e-bikes and e-trikes,” he added.

He noted that because e-trike drivers are not required to obtain licenses, enforcement officers have no way to issue traffic tickets—leaving violations unaddressed and contributing to unsafe driving behavior.

“Kasi sa ngayon, pag nag-violate sila ng traffic laws natin, paano sila ticketan? Samantalang mga tricycle, motosiklo, kotse, pag na-violate matiticketan ka, may kalalagyan ka. Eto sila mga e-trike...hindi nila alam yung mga traffic laws and regulations (Right now, when they violate our traffic laws, how can they even be ticketed? Meanwhile, tricycles, motorcycles, cars—if they violate the rules, they can be ticketed and held accountable. But these e-trike drivers… they don’t know the traffic laws and regulations),” he said.

“So for me siguro it's about time na sila'y i-obligahin magkaroon ng (that they be obligated to have a) driver's license,” he added.

Tulfo clarified he has no issue with regular e-bikes as long as they avoid highways. He focused his concerns on e-trikes, which he said have been involved in many reported road accidents.

MMDA Traffic Enforcement Group Director III Atty. Victor Nuñez confirmed enforcement gaps, saying the MMDA cannot apprehend e-trike violators caught on CCTV because most units are unregistered.

Without plates or registration records, Tulfo noted, e-trike drivers can repeatedly violate traffic rules without consequence.

He also raised concerns about local government programs that distribute or endorse e-trikes for livelihood, sometimes without coordination with national transport agencies.

“I think the local government I've heard... may mga programa ang LGU sila na mismo ang nagpprovide ata or nageendorso kung sino yung pwedeng pagbilhan ng e-trike at ilo-loan sa banko and then bibigyan nila permiso na makapagmaneho at may kunting negosyo ang mayor para sa siyudad,” Tulfo said.

While saying he sees “no problem” with livelihood initiatives, he argued that LGUs should coordinate with the DOTr, MMDA, and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to prevent regulatory confusion.

Land Transportation Office (LTO) Executive Director Atty. Greg Pua later affirmed that many e-trikes fall outside the exemptions under the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act (EVIDA) due to their weight, making registration necessary.

“Kailangan din po talaga siyang mag-driver's license…Ang issue lang po under the EVIDA is yung LEVs or the 50 kilograms and below… more than 50 kilos yung mga bumbyahe na common carrier…yung iba sinasakay pa nga sampu (They really do need to have a driver’s license… The only issue under the EVIDA is the LEVs that are 50 kilograms and below… but those being used as common carriers are more than 50 kilos… some of them even carry up to ten passengers),” Pua said.

Tulfo stressed that even privately used e-trikes—such as those used for school drop-off or market trips—should require drivers to secure licenses to ensure they understand traffic rules.

“Para sakin siguro kailangan nila ng driver's license para alam nila yung rules and regulations sa kalye natin when it comes to traffic (For me, I think they need to have a driver’s license so they’ll know the rules and regulations on our roads when it comes to traffic.), do you agree?” he asked.

Pua responded: “Yes, Mr. Chair… isa po yan ipinag-utos ng ating acting DOTr Secretary Giovanni Z. Lopez na amin pong pag-aaralan (es, Mr. Chair… that is one of the things our acting DOTr Secretary Giovanni Z. Lopez instructed us to study).”

Tulfo said that since many e-trike operators effectively earn from transporting passengers, they should be regulated similarly to tricycle drivers.

“Para sakin, tutal namamasada sila, kumikita sila, dapat may driver's license (For me, since they are operating as public transport and earning from it, they should have a driver’s license),” he said.

Meanwhile, Tulfo gave the LTO three days to decide whether to move the start of the ban on e-trikes on main roads—originally set for January 2—to February or another month, saying the information campaign about the policy appears to be insufficient.