Tricycle protest gridlocks Manila

The taxis have been blamed for causing pollution

Thousands of motorcycle taxis have clogged up the centre of the Philippines capital, Manila, in protest at a new law designed to reduce pollution.

Traffic was slowed to a crawl as angry taxi drivers drove their three-wheeled vehicles through the city centre before converging outside the presidential palace.

We may hold another protest and [the government] cannot blame us

Ariel Lim, taxi drivers' association

The new legislation, which came into effect on 1 January, requires drivers to convert to engines with cleaner emmissions.

However, the government said it would set up a committee to discuss the issue and allow the taxi drivers more time to comply.

"I believe the government will fulfill its end of the bargain," said Ariel Lim, president of the National Confederation of Tricycle Operators and Drivers Associations.

"If it fails, we may hold another protest and it cannot blame us," he said.

Ill-health

Under the Clean Air Act, the taxis have to undergo emission tests aimed at replacing two-stroke engines with more environmentally-friendly four-stroke versions.

The taxis are the country's most popular transport

The motorcyle taxis are the country's most popular form of transport and there are 120,000 in the capital alone.

But a pall of smog hangs over the city and the two-stroke engines have been blamed for contributing to the country's worsening pollution problems.

Last November, the World Bank warned that air pollution would cost the Philippines Government nearly $1.5bn in health care, lost wages and low productivity.

A World Bank study found that pollution from particle emissions caused about 2,000 premature deaths and 9,000 cases of bronchitis in the country's four largest cities.