Handling traffic is about political power

My editor Tony Paño faxed me a copy of a letter from Joselito Salgado, officer-in-charge of the information and community relations department of the City of Makati, who obviously didn’t agree to our May 13 article about the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA). Since his letter is quite lengthy, let me just reprint a few excerpts.

Here’s the beginning of the letter: "Your provincial columnist Bobit S. Avila should just stick to writing about provincial affairs and refrain from commenting on developments in Metro Manila, otherwise he exposes his ignorance of current issues and imposes his unenlightened opinion on readers of your newspaper. The conflict between MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando and the mayors of Metro Manila is not about power, as Mr. Avila mistakenly claims. It is about following the law.

"Both the Supreme Court and the Makati Regional Trial Court have ruled that the MMDA has no legislative powers. The agency does not have the power to enact ordinances. It is only a coordinating body, an administrative unit under the Office of the President."

Let me stop there and point out that we wrote about the MMDA issue in reference to our traffic problems in Metro Cebu so that you folk who live in a gilded cage in Metro Manila would have a better understanding of what you would lose in case Rep. Teddyboy Locsin gets his way and abolishes the MMDA. Without the MMDA, believe me chaos will reign because each Metro Manila city will have its own version of Bayani Fernando. But what if each version doesn’t have any damned idea on how to handle traffic? Well, that’s when the fun begins.

Let me point out to Mr. Salgado, just because this writer comes from Cebu and therefore, is considered a probinsyano by you Makati folk, doesn’t mean to say that we have no understanding of the things happening in Metro Manila. Thanks to the media, especially nationwide television, we, in Cebu and in the rest of the country, are bombarded daily by issues and events affecting Metro Manila, that is why we always say... Manila is the Philippines and the Philippines is Manila. Mr. Salgado also says the issue is not about power. I totally disagree with him; handling traffic is a power in itself and that’s exactly what our politicians want to have!

Mr. Salgado says that this probinsyano columnist shouldn’t be writing about MMDA issues. Let me say to him that since the MMDA belongs to the Office of the President, therefore, as a taxpayer, I can write about this... even if its decisions do not affect us directly in our province. But what MMDA does affect us in the sense that when we go to Metro Manila, we get a taste of what it is doing. Perhaps, Mr. Salgado doesn’t know about the constitutional provision about the freedom of speech. Lastly, we, probinsyanos, have a good grasp of what’s happening in Manila. In fact, we’re better in analyzing your problems because we’re not biased toward anyone!

Incidentally, while we’re still on Metro Manila issues, I just saw on TV Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye saying that Malacañang has agreed to subsidize the fares for the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) so this means passing the burden to the national government. I’m sure that this is fine for Metro Manilans, but what about for the rest of the Philippines, like Cebu, which does not even have a rail or an organized mass transit system? To whom should we pass the burden for our daily fares? This situation may be good for Metro Manila, but for the rest of the Filipino people who pay taxes outside Metro Manila, this is totally unfair!

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Just like in Cebu, whenever we write about traffic matters, it always elicits a lot of e-mailed responses from many concerned people. Here’s a response to our articles on traffic:

"A pleasant good morning, I hope! Right you are, sir Bobit, get politics out of traffic management. One reason why this country moves in a turtle pace (is there an animal that moves slower than this?) is because of politics, so much so that aside from our uncontrollable increase in population, there are other species that not only remain stable but are getting bigger — the crabs and the crocodiles.

"The recent fiasco in the traffic situation created by the MCRTC which has cramped the MMDA’s traffic enforcers for days only proves the citizenry’s penchant for lawlessness. It showed total lack of discipline and as one of your texters said, ‘Remove Fernando and the MMDA, welcome chaos and anarchy.’

"Some mayors are against, while some are for the beleaguered MMDA chairman. But one thing is sure: he gets things done. The equipment he has procured (non-existent in Binay days) saves the government time and money to get things done, as there is no need for an outside contractor to do them. That’s something the LGUs probably abhor as they cannot corrupt anything. They cannot even put up billboards with their names on them as their projects.

"In this regard, one wonders where the MMDA funds during Binay’s and Abalos’ time were when equipment and projects were nowhere to be found. Ms. Ana Marie Pamintuan is right. The local governments, especially the critics of Fernando, should have stepped up and prove to him that they can do the job. The days following the MCTRC decision were the most opportune time to do it. But like couch potatoes, they all remained in their seats.

"And thus, it only proves that lawyers are talkers and engineers are doers. Binay said the MMDA should be abolished, especially ‘kung ang namumuno ay hindi karapat-dapat.’ Sino kaya ang dapat? Siya. Joke, joke, joke."

Here’s a texted response from my good friend Leo Sanchez of the Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals (BCBP):

"Good morning. Sir Bobit. Read your column on politics in traffic management and I could not agree more! Makati, in fact, has a traffic group that issues tickets for alleged traffic violations that would cost the alleged violator exorbitant fees. E.g., color coding for a parked vehicle; cost is P500. My friend argued to no avail. This move simply smacks of money as they want the money collected to go to the city’s coffers. As you mentioned in today’s column, we need leaders who do what’s best for the country without fear of political consequences. Sir, God bless you for voicing out what others are thinking but fear to say! More power"

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talk show, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, at 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.