Mayors act on DILG call to ease traffic

MANILA, Philippines — Mayors of Metro Manila are looking into various ways to alleviate the metropolis’ traffic problems following a meeting with officials of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) yesterday.

San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora said he is open to the idea of opening gated subdivisions to public passage during rush hours.

This came after Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said he was considering getting the cooperation of gated subdivisions to open their roads for motorists to use as alternate routes during rush-hour traffic.

The call stemmed from President Duterte’s orders during his fourth State of the Nation Address to reclaim all public roads that were being used for private purposes.

Residents of exclusive subdivisions, however, strongly opposed the plan due to security concerns and other problems that may arise with its implementation.

Zamora, himself a resident of a gated community in Barangay Greenhills, said if the proposal would give additional passageway for vehicles to ease traffic, then he would fight for it.

“I will have to consult (residents). If this is a directive from the President then we all have to follow,” he said.

No-contact apprehension

The Valenzuela City government will enforce a no-contact apprehension policy starting next month to generate funds for more than 1,000 dialysis patients in the city, Mayor Rex Gatchalian said yesterday.

The main beneficiaries are patients who struggle to continue their treatment toward the end of the year as they use up sessions covered by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., he said.

The city council approved a resolution ratifying a joint venture project with QPAX Traffic Systems Inc. for the development of a no-contact apprehension program to capture images and videos of traffic violators.

Focus on road clearing

Navotas Mayor Toby Tiangco yesterday said he will keep up the city government’s clearing operations that he started 17 years ago. 

Tiangco said reclaiming public roads by removing illegally parked vehicles and vendors was the main topic during yesterday’s meeting. 

He said the vendors at the Agora market along Northbay Boulevard used to occupy the road, like in Divisoria, until he led clearing operations there when he was a new mayor in 2002.

Tiangco said he will also look into expanding the truck ban in Navotas if traffic worsens along C3 Road due to the construction of the North Luzon Expressway Harbor Link Segment 10.

Caloocan Mayor Oscar Malapitan said while the city does not have the same problem as Manila in terms of illegal vendors and road obstructions, he will ensure that traffic chokepoints like Samson Road and Monumento Circle will be free of illegal vendors and illegally parked vehicles.

Manila to pull out e-trikes

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno said yesterday he will pull out around 300 electric tricycles as he considers them unregistered vehicles that create chaos on the streets.

He said jeepney drivers have been losing income since the e-trikes were allowed to operate by his predecessor, Joseph Estrada.

Moreno said the move to pull out the e-trikes does not mean he wants their drivers to go hungry, but to address the traffic problem, as requested by MMDA chairman Danilo Lim.

Estrada, meanwhile, said he pities the drivers, noting that the e-trikes were donated by the Department of Energy as part of the Duterte administration’s environmental protection campaign.

“We introduced (the e-trikes) to reduce joblessness and poverty in Manila,” he said.