Lawmakers back MMDA bus terminal

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority on Tuesday got support from majority of  Metro Manila congressmen for the agency's Southwest Interim Provincial Terminal project.

In a committee hearing held to address the concerns of the MMDA, the lawmakers said that SWIPT would help address the perennial traffic problem of the National Capital Region and the proliferation of colorum and out-of-line public utility buses.

"We are glad that the support for our bus terminal project has begun to snowball. We thank our honorable congressmen in Metro Manila for expressing their support," MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino said.

Among the lawmakers who attended the hearing were Rep. Winston Castelo, (2nd District, Quezon City), chairman of the committee on Metro Manila Development; Rep. Ma. Theresa Bonoan (4th District, Manila); Rep. Imelda Calixto-Rubiano (Pasay); Rep. Edgar Erice (2nd District, Caloocan City; Rep. Enrico Echiverri, (1st District, Caloocan City); Rep. Romero Quimbo (2nd District, Marikina City); Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian (1st District, Valenzuela City; Rep. Eric Olivarez, (1st District, Paranaque City); Rep. Jose Christopher Belmonte, (6th District, Quezon City); and Rep. Gustavo Tambunting, (2nd District, Paranaque City).

Tolentino said the lawmakers’ support is invaluable because they would be able to discuss to their constituents the long-term benefits of the integrated terminal concept.
Earlier, the Cavite Mayors League also rallied behind  the MMDA project.

The Cavite Mayors’ League has signed a manifesto expressing their full support to the MMDA’s efforts to ease traffic congestion in Metro Manila.

"On our part, we will do our best to explain to our constituents and the bus operators the benefits of this terminal project. We praise Chairman Tolentino for continuously coming up with measures to alleviate the plight of commuters and bus companies,” Noveleta Mayor Enrico Alvarez, president of the Cavite Mayors’ League, said.

SWIPT was inaugurated on August 6 and has faced various complaints from public transport commuters.

Like with other bus terminals put up by the MMDA, the terminal makes use of the biometric-based system in which drivers are subjected to fingerprint scanning for verification before they are allowed to ply their route. - Dennis Carcamo