Senate urges suspension of new traffic plan in EDSA
Four senators, led by Senate President Vicente Sotto III, urged the Metro Manila Council (MMC) and the Metro Manila Development Authority ( MMDA) to recall a plan limiting EDSA only to cars with two passengers during rush hour.
In a Senate resolution signed by Sotto, Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto, Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, it urged the MMC to recall the MMDA regulation "to immediately suspend the implementation".
"Transportation experts, including University of the Philippines Planning and Development Research Foundation's Primitivo Cal, warned that such 'piecemeal' or 'band-aid' measure could even worsen traffic congestion as it could encourage the proliferation of unauthorized 'for-hire' vehicles or 'colorum' as shown by the recently scrapped Indonesian model," the resolution said.
In an interview with reporters, Sotto, who admitted he is inconvenienced by the regulation since he has no driver, said this hurts a parent who brings children to school.
" A mother who is going to fetch her child from school will have to bring a maid. This will create many problems if they insist on this," said Sotto. "You have to bring someone alone so you will not be charged with traffic violation."
The MMC, which is composed by the MMDA and Metro Manila mayors, approved the high vehicle occupancy plan last week. Wednesday was the first day of a one-week experiment for this plan.
Sotto said Indonesia adopted the same system but they had to abandon it because "there were holdups and so many repercussions." "Arresting violators of this regulation is sure to cause traffic."
"They should find other ways to resolve traffic. They should remove all these illegally parked vehicles in Metro Manila. That is the problem. They cannot even resolve this in Zobel Roxas (street)," added Sotto.
Sotto said this "is anti-poor, anti-Senate president, too." "I don't have a driver. I don't have a bodyguard so I will be forced to get a driver. People's money will be used for this that is why I don't like this (regulation)." DMS
