House sets provincial bus ban probe

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives has decided to look into a move by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to ban provincial buses from traversing EDSA to ease traffic along the busy highway.

A resolution filed by deputy speaker Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte prompted the inquiry. He called the plan “anti-poor and anti-small business.”

The MMDA is set to carry out a dry run of the ban on Aug. 7 and plans to transfer the terminals to the fringes of the metropolis.

“The ban is facing complaints from thousands of commuters as the move would be cumbersome, costly and time-consuming for passengers who usually carry with them heavy pieces of luggage when traveling to Metro Manila and back to their provinces,” Villafuerte said in his resolution.

He said the ban would “not ease the traffic congestion on EDSA, considering that MMDA’s 2007 figures show that only 3,300 provincial buses pass through this road compared to the 12,000 city buses and more than 247,000 private vehicles that traverse it daily.”

By  2017, public utility buses comprised only three percent of the total traffic, as private cars took up 67 percent of road space, MMDA data show, he said. 

He added that the planned ban would affect 8,000 provincial buses.

Under MMDA Regulation No. 19-002, the loading and unloading zones of the provincial buses will be moved to the integrated terminal in Sta. Rosa in Laguna for those coming from the south, and to the terminal in Valenzuela City for those from the north. Those with terminals in Pasay City will use the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange.

The regulation also mandates local government units to revoke or stop the issuance of business permits to provincial bus operators for their terminals along EDSA.

Some groups have questioned the regulation before the Supreme Court.

“Pending final action by the tribunal on the petitions seeking a halt to this highly controversial plan, we are appealing to the MMDA to hold off on this EDSA bus ban and, in the meantime, study alternative measures to decongest traffic along EDSA and other major roads across the national capital,” Villafuerte said.