Judge reverses ruling on bus terminal closure

A Manila judge reversed yesterday a decision that allowed the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to close down bus terminals along major thoroughfares in the metropolis.

In a five-page order, Judge Silvino Pampilo Jr. said the MMDA did not have "police powers" to close down provincial bus terminals along EDSA, in line with its program to put up two main terminals at both ends of the metropolis’ main artery.

"The power of MMDA to regulate traffic under Section 5 of RA 7920, the law that created the MMDA, does not include the power to order or direct the closing down of bus terminals," Pampilo said.

The judge also declared unconstitutional Executive Order 179, which ordered the closure of terminals on EDSA, saying it was inconsistent with legal provisions of Public Service Law.

Last Jan. 24, Pampilo junked separate complaints against the MMDA filed by Viron Transportation Co. and Mencorp Transportation System Inc. — the provincial bus firms affected by the MMDA project.

The two companies filed a motion for reconsideration and reiterated their argument that "the closure and elimination of bus terminals would not solve traffic congestion in the major thoroughfares of Metro Manila as it would only result in centralization of traffic congestion in the two major terminals planned by the MMDA."

The judge reversed his earlier decision by citing two decisions of the Supreme Court on the separate cases filed by Bel-Air Subdivision in Makati City and a private citizen in Parañaque City.

"As cited in both cases, the powers of MMDA are limited to the following: formulation, coordination, regulation, implementation, preparation, management, monitoring, setting of policies, installation of a system and administration. There is no syllable in RA 7920 that grants MMDA police powers," he explained.