DoTr appoints former MMDA head as undersecretary for roads

FORMER Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) General Manager Thomas M. Orbos has been appointed Undersecretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure of the Department of Transportation (DoTr).

Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade confirmed the appointment yesterday, following reports that the MMDA official began work on July 3.

“Yes,” he told reporters on Tuesday when asked to confirm the appointment. Mr. Orbos — who served in the MMDA for over a year — replacing former Undersecretary Anneli R. Lontoc.

On his watch at the MMDA, Mr. Orbos, who was acting chairman before the appointment of retired Brigadier- General Danilo D. Lim, implemented an odd-even number scheme for vehicles to help decongest traffic. The scheme is designed to reduce the number of private cars on the road by 50%.

In a related development, the bases development authority said moving government offices to Clark may help decongest Metro Manila, with the transport department’s move imminent.

Bases Conversion and Development Authority President and CEO Vivencio B. Dizon said yesterday that DoTr for example is moving its office to the New Clark City in Pampanga by the end of the month.

“The location I think it used to be a Cyber City, there was a locator there, it was a BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) and then, the lease expired so DoTr will take up that place,” Mr. Dizon told reporters yesterday. “It will be a phased-in move,” he added. The DoTr’s main office is in Mandaluyong City. Mr. Tugade earlier said his agency wanted to make the transfer in December 2017 but decided to move earlier to lead the other government agencies.

New Clark City is planned as a smart, green city on 9,450 hectares of what used to be a military base.

The government is hoping to make New Clark City more viable by improving its access from Metro Manila and as efforts are underway to promote Clark International Airport as an alternative gateway to the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

DoTr has announced it is building the ClarkManila railway this year which will cut the travel time from Metro Manila to Clark to 55 minutes from the current time of at least two hours.

Another train project in the area is the planned Subic- Clark Cargo Railway, which the government hopes to start building next year for completion by 2020. It will make it easier to transfer goods to Clark and will reduce the number of trucks on the road. —