Fix Metro traffic, lawmaker tells gov’t

MANILA, Philippines - The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), police and local government units (LGUs) should fix traffic congestion in the metropolis this Christmas season, a lawmaker said yesterday.

In making the appeal, Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza, a former Manila mayor, said the concerned authorities should work double-time and should add more personnel to man traffic.

“It now takes more than two hours to traverse the Edsa-Commonwealth Ave­nue (Quezon City) route. It is mostly buses that are causing the congestion,” he said.

He said whenever he goes home to Manila after attending a session at the House of Representatives in Quezon City, he notices that traffic enforcers extort money from truck drivers at the Philcoa area.

Atienza pointed out that fixing traffic in the metropolis is a shared responsibility of the MMDA, the police and LGUs. He noted that LGUs have their own traffic aides.

He said he often sees policemen escorting politicians instead of helping the MMDA and LGUs fix the traffic.

Atienza cited a statement quoting Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan that the nation is losing P2.4 billion a day in potential income due to traffic congestion.