Lawmakers blame MMDA, LTFRB for traffic woes

Lawmakers from the independent bloc castigated officials of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority ( MMDA) and the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for failing to manage the worsening traffic situation in the metropolis.

During the hearing of the House committee on Metro Manila development last week, officials of the two agencies got a dressing down from Buhay party-list Rep. Joselito Atienza, who pointed out that the MMDA is the primary agency delegated by law to handle traffic management in Metro Manila but “has failed miserably to manage effectively the deplorable traffic conditions in the metropolis.”

“The country’s economy is affected by this lack of effective efforts on the part of the MMDA to improve traffic conditions in Metro Manila. Billions of pesos and thousands of man-hours are lost everyday due to congestion. These stop and go situations all over have become common occurrences,” Atienza said.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino “should give Metro Manilans a break and decide once and for all. Does he want to address the Metro’s deteriorating traffic conditions or spend time conducting shake- drills and attending town fiestas? If that is the case, then he should give the job to someone who can get the work done,” he said.

He said EDSA and C5 Road are two of the best examples of main arteries clogged practically at all times of the day.

Atienza said the worsening traffic situation in the metropolis is mainly caused by several factors, among them a lack of enforcement and a lack of genuine effort to manage traffic especially along several choke points on EDSA such as Ortigas, Cubao, Kamuning and Guadalupe, to name a few.

This is compounded by the uncontrolled number of buses and jeepneys that use main thoroughfares as their terminals, he said.

He also pointed out the MMDA’s consistent failure to coordinate with local government officials and utilize secondary roads and side streets as alternate routes to decongest traffic along major thoroughfares.

“These secondary roads are littered with unfinished diggings by private and government contractors, such as those in Mandaluyong City and Blumentritt in Manila, that not only congest traffic but pose a very real danger to pedestrians and motorists alike,” the lawmaker said.

Abakada-Guro party-list Rep. Jonathan dela Cruz and Atienza also scored the LTFRB for their messy issuances of franchises to public utility vehicles that led to the phenomenon where colorum PUVs sometimes equal the number of those having valid franchises.