MMDA calls on commuters to avoid buses covered by 'coding'

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) asked the public yesterday not to ride passenger buses whose drivers will disregard the “number coding” or the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP).

MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino said bus operators, drivers and conductors who will go on a transport strike will face detention.

The number coding for public utility vehicles (PUVs) will be implemented starting today. “Commuters are advised not to board buses passing through Metro Manila with plate numbers ending 1 and 2 on Monday, and in 5 and 6 on Wednesday,” he said. “We will detain their drivers and conductors until 7 p.m. if they disregard the number coding.”

The Integrated Metro Bus Operators Association vowed to hold a general strike today to dramatize their opposition to the number coding scheme for PUVs. The number coding for PUVs will be enforced from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and there will be no window hours.

Tolentino and Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) chairman Nelson Laluces said bus operators may lose their franchise if they sabotage the first day of the number coding scheme for city and provincial buses.

“We have received an intel report and we still need to verify if they will not follow the law, that they will hold a protest along EDSA. They are also planning to leave their buses in EDSA to paralyze the flow of traffic,” he said.

Tolentino said 1,800 MMDA traffic enforcers will be deployed early today along major thoroughfares and entry points of Metro Manila.

Tolentino said they have already secured the support of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) and the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) following reports received by the MMDA that some bus operators are out to sabotage the scheme.

The NCRPO is deploying police officers to augment the MMDA traffic enforcers while the HPG will also deploy motorcycle-riding police officers to assist the NCRPO and the MMDA in managing traffic along EDSA and the apprehension of erring bus drivers.

Tolentino said abandoned buses will be immediately towed to the MMDA impounding area.

LTFRB to sanction bus firms

Laluces yesterday warned bus operators against participating in the scheduled transport strike, saying they could face sanctions like the cancellation of their franchises.

He said they will field monitoring teams today to find out which bus firms will participate in the strike.

In issuing the warning, Laluces cited the Public Service Act. “Once a public entity is given franchise, it is unlawful to refuse or withhold its service when it is reasonably demanded,” he said in an interview.

Laluces said the sanctions could range from fines or suspension of the franchise to the eventual cancellation of the unit’s certificate of public conveyance.

The LTFRB chief said one of the factors they would be looking into is if a bus firm had been participating in past transport strikes.

– With Reinir Padua