Former Marikina mayor assumes post at MMDA

Former Marikina Mayor Bayani Fernando officially assumes his post as Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman today in place of Benjamin Abalos Sr.

A turnover ceremony in front of the MMDA office in Makati City will be held this morning as Abalos moves on to his new appointment as chairman of the Commission on Elections.

Fernando’s appointment to the MMDA was supposed to have taken place early last year upon the recommendation of then Chairman Jejomar Binay who was running for mayor of Makati City.

The appointment had already been signed by former President Joseph Estrada but the People Power II event that led to Estrada’s ouster caused it to be sidelined. Abalos, one of the ruling political party’s active leaders, took the place of Binay at a time when there was a garbage crisis. The crisis was addressed temporarily through the development of materials recovery facilities and a landfill in Montalban, Rizal.

However, Fernando faces the task of finding a long-term solution for garbage which as his two predecessors discovered, is laden with controversy.

The new MMDA chairman has to decide on the controversial contract of Jancom Environmental Corp. for the management of 3,000 tons of garbage daily as well as the 2,000 tons contract of the Pro-Environment Consortium.

Another challenge facing Fernando is the traffic problem of Metro Manila which has become a perennial problem for several years now. — Marvin Sy