MMDA to amend truck ban for ADB meet

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will modify the travel time for trucks plying the metropolis during the three-day Asian Development Bank (ADB) meeting in the country on May 2 to 5, an official said yesterday.

“This is to give way (to the delegates and) to ensure that the ADB conference will be a success,” said MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino in an interview over radio dzBB.

Tolentino said under the total modified daytime truck ban, trucks will be prohibited from traveling along specific roads from 4 a.m. to 9 p.m.

A source from the MMDA said the ban may be implemented along Roxas Boulevard and peripheral roads leading to hotels where the delegates will be billeted.

The 45th annual ADB meet, which will be held at the Philippine International Convention Center, will be attended by about 4,000 participants, including finance ministers and other officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China, Japan, and South Korea.

The MMDA will also designate courtesy lanes for the participants during the three-day event.

“We need to extend necessary courtesy so that their stay in the Philippines, as the host country, will be comfortable,” Tolentino told The STAR in an earlier interview.

Tolentino further explained that they will assign courtesy lanes “only if the presence of all of the delegates is required for a specific event.”

He said the use of courtesy lanes will only last for about two hours – just enough to make the participants’ travel to a venue faster and comfortable.