For the third straight day yesterday, motorists enjoyed traffic bliss in what have long been the traffic-choked streets around Manila’s Port Area. The scene was like a holiday – and it was, for the truckers protesting a ban and fines imposed by the Manila government for illegal parking on city streets.
The city government approved the new rules as Metro Manila braced for heavier than usual traffic due to infrastructure projects to be implemented until 2016 all over the metropolis. A total daytime truck ban was modified by the Manila government, allowing a window from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for trucks to ply city streets. Operations can resume from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Parking along city streets while waiting for the allowed operating hours, however, is still banned, as city authorities decided that this is one of the major causes of traffic jams around the port. The unusually light traffic in the past three days proved this point.
While a respite from the perennial traffic gridlock is welcomed by motorists, however, the nation cannot afford a protracted disruption of operations in the country’s busiest international container terminal and domestic port. The clearing of shipments by the Bureau of Customs has been delayed enough since last year. Businesses are starting to feel the impact of the supply disruption, and any added costs incurred as a result of the truck “holiday†will be passed on to consumers.
No one benefits from traffic jams, and truckers should welcome the possibility of speeding up transportation by land. Road discipline should not prove impossible in Manila’s ports. Everyone is affected by the traffic-causing infrastructure projects, and everyone must make certain sacrifices. Now that the truckers have dramatized their protest, all concerned sectors must find a middle ground. Port business has been disrupted enough.