MMDA deploys 500 traffic 'constables' along EDSA

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) deployed yesterday 500 “retrained” and “made over” traffic enforcers along EDSA as part of the agency’s bid to restore dignity in the ranks of its traffic enforcers.

Called the “EDSA 500,” the corps of traffic enforcers can be seen along the highway wearing new blue uniforms with sashes and patches that identify them as “traffic constables.”

“We decided to rename them from traffic enforcers to constables as the change of name would create a new outlook. People belittle our enforcers,” said MMDA spokesperson Alu Dorotan.

“We felt deploying 500 constables along EDSA would make traffic management and the enforcement of traffic laws more efficient. We may have closed-circuit television cameras monitoring EDSA but we still need people on the ground,” she added.

Dorotan added that aside from the makeover, enforcers selected from other districts to become members of “EDSA 500” were also strictly screened and retrained in traffic management.

Dorotan said that in order to become a traffic constable and be part of “EDSA 500” a traffic enforcer would have to be at least 5’7” in height, not more than 35 years old and should have finished 72 units in college.

According to Dorotan, the selected traffic constables also received advanced traffic management training, basic legal education, and seminars on self-defense and grooming.

Dorotan said the traffic constables are authorized to issue erring motorists along EDSA with traffic violation receipts as the period for the MMDA’s enforcement of a “no contact policy” has already lapsed. The traffic constables will also follow a rank system similar to the ones used by the police and the military.

Meanwhile, Dorotan said although the MMDA is open to the possibility of arming the traffic constables, it is not a priority at present.

Dorotan said it is sometimes unavoidable for the MMDA’s traffic enforcers to join the police in going after criminals on the road.

“We are still studying that (arming of enforcers). We are open to the option. But at the moment, our priority is to train them in self-defense,” she said.