Coordinated MM-wide truck ban urged

MANILA, Philippines - Administration lawmakers pushed yesterday for the implementation of a unified truck ban in Metro Manila to make the scheme more effective in easing traffic congestion and at the same time reduce transportation costs.

Valenzuela City Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo and Parañaque City Rep. Gustavo Tambunting called for a coordinated Metro Manila-wide truck ban that could reduce the adverse effects on some businesses affected by the restrictions.

“If this truck ban is uniform throughout Metro Manila and coordinated, I’m sure the benefits of this, particularly in reducing traffic congestion would be greater,” Gunigundo told reporters.

He said if the truck ban is coordinated, truckers, cargo haulers, and other affected businesses could make better alternative plans for their operations.

Tambunting said truckers would have to adjust to new traffic regulations imposed by local government units, including the truck ban.

Truckers seek help

With more city governments planning to implement the truck ban initiated by Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines (CTAP) director Albert Suansing said they have asked Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority committee on traffic chairman, to ask the other mayors not to implement the truck ban.

Suansing said he understood the predicament of the mayors after Manila’s truck ban had forced trucks to park in Caloocan, Navotas and Parañaque, where traffic gridlocks had worsened.

Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo and Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman and vice chairman of the House committee on Metro Manila development, respectively, sought to expand the coordinated truck ban to make it a unified traffic policy.

“The hodgepodge of different traffic solutions imposed by individual cities in Metro Manila hurts the economy as a whole,” Gatchalian said.

Philippine Ports Authority South Harbor Port manager Francisquiel Mancile said the truck ban has disrupted the balance of arrival and release of cargoes, with fewer shipping containers coming out of the port.

As of March 23, Mancile said yard usage at the Port of Manila reached 73 percent. Suansing described the 73-percent yard usage as nearing the “critical” level of 75 percent.

Officials said yard usage only reaches 65 percent at this time of the year. – With Evelyn Macairan