Study move to abolish MMDA carefully

Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando finally broke his silence and expressed his sentiments over moves to abolish the agency he heads through legislation.

In his weekly radio program aired over GMA-dzBB yesterday, he called on those pushing for the idea of getting rid of the MMDA to reflect on what they are trying to do.

Without directly addressing Makati Rep. Teddy Boy Locsin, he urged "those behind the move" to study and look back at the time when the law creating the MMDA was passed also by Congress.

He reminded members of the Lower House that those who authored Republic Act 7924 in 1997 were not stupid but were in fact lawmakers with brilliant minds.

Fernando said those who penned and approved the MMDA Law went through each and every detail of the bill in crafting the agency’s responsibilities and powers.

Fernando was apparently referring to Locsin’s argument that the MMDA merely duplicates the powers of Local Government Units (LGUs).

He said the MMDA should not be abolished as if it is some small department or office with no real function or responsibility.

It can be recalled that the move to abolish the agency came after the Supreme Court and the Makati City Regional Trial Court (MCRTC) had issued rulings which gave the public the perception that the MMDA has been clipped of its powers.

The SC decision said confiscating driver’s licenses during apprehensions for traffic violations is illegal while the MCRTC directly tagged two of MMDA’s traffic schemes — the Metro Traffic Ticket (MTT) system and the No Contact Traffic Apprehension (NCTA) scheme — as illegal.

Fernando maintained that the court rulings are not interpreted the way they should be interpreted. The MTT, he further noted, is being implemented based on RA 7924’s provision which calls on the agency to come up with a single ticketing system for Metro Manila.

The MMDA has filed two motions for reconsideration for both rulings which do not actually seek a complete reversal of the decisions but only clarifications on certain matters which are allegedly already moot and academic.

Fernando said the only real problem with the SC decision is the way it allegedly clipped the Metro Manila Mayor’s Council (MMC) of its power to legislate.

Because of this, the MMC, which is the policy making body of the MMDA, is not sure if it can pass an ordinance for the agency’s 2005 budget as they have been doing in the last eight years.