Palace asks DILG chief to step into MMDA-mayors row

Malacañang called on Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes to step into the row between Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando and a handful of Metro mayors for the sake of the public.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said he would see what the Palace can do to help resolve the issue, but added Reyes would have to act first, being in charge of the local governments.

"Right now we are not doing anything, but I will look into some of the problems. But since this involves local governments, Secretary Reyes should be the one focusing on it," Ermita said. "We’ll see what we can do to effect a reconciliation between the two very important sectors of government."

President Arroyo earlier expressed support for Fernando, saying he was doing a good job. But she said Congress would have to decide on whether MMDA should be abolished or not.

Meanwhile, Fernando assured te public that the conflict between the MMDA and some local executives will not affect operations of the agency.

He gave the assurance yesterday amidst move from his outright critics in the Metro Manila Council (MMC) to block the approval of the agency’s proposed P2.37-billion budget for this year.

Fernando argued that the approval of the MMC through an ordinance would no longer be necessary since the budget need to kick off projects had been approved by Congress.

The MMDA chairman said he still believes the legislative power of the MMC has been stripped by the Supreme Court (SC) in a recent ruling.

"Our belief is that the MMC does not have the right to pass the budget. A couple of mayors argued otherwise so we want this issue clarified, which is why we filed an appeal with the SC," Fernando said in an interview.

In another development, Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay accused Fernando yesterday of coming up with bizarre interpretations of court rulings in a stubborn effort to play lawyer.

Fernando, he said, is embarrassing himself with his attitude and his seemingly desperate ways of trying to go around the law in so far as running the MMDA is concerned.

Binay said the MMDA chief, who is an engineer by profession, is trying to make the public believe that he is always correct and he is the one interpreting the law correctly.

"Fernando should stop playing lawyer. He is embarrassing himself and the agency with his bizarre interpretations of the rulings of the court," he said in a statement.

Binay was referring to Fernando’s continuous implementation of the Metro Traffic Ticket (MTT) system and the No Contact Traffic Apprehension (NCTA) scheme.

These two traffic management schemes were recently tagged illegal by the Makati City Regional Trial Court. – With Edu Punay, Michael Punongbayan