MANILA, Philippines — The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) may proceed with the scheduled implementation of its controversial policy banning provincial buses on EDSA on Aug. 6.
Groups questioning the bus ban failed to secure a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday in time for the implementation of the new measure meant to ease traffic in the main thoroughfare of the metropolis.
Insiders said the SC did not tackle the petitions filed by AKO Bicol party-list group Reps. Ronald Ang and Alfredo Garbin Jr., Albay Rep. Joey Salceda and Bayan Muna party-list last April 29, May 27 and June 7, respectively, for the SC to stop the implementation of MMDA’s Regulation No. 19-002.
The High Court earlier ordered the respondents – led by MMDA chairman Danilo Lim and the Metro Manila Council composed of mayors of cities and municipalities in the National Capital Region – to answer the petition and submit their comment.
The MMDA sought the dismissal of the petitions and set the dry run of the bus ban on Aug. 6.
The petitions specifically sought to strike down the measure for violating the 1987 Constitution and existing laws.
The petitioners said the measure is an exercise of police power that the MMDA and MMC do not possess. They said banning provincial buses and closing bus terminals on EDSA need the enactment of ordinances by local government units that have police power under the Local Government Code.
They also cited that of an average of 367,738 vehicles that traversed EDSA daily in 2017, 67 percent or 247,527 of them are private. Of these private vehicles, 60 to 70 percent or 148,516 to 185,645 are single occupancy vehicles.
An average of 12,000 city buses and only 3,300 provincial buses went through EDSA each day in 2017, according to the petitioners.
They also argued that the closure of provincial bus terminals would violate the Public Service Act and related laws that require public utility operators to maintain their own terminals as a requisite for their franchises.