Legal battle brewing over Alabang car scheme

MANILA, Philippines - A legal battle is brewing over a proposed color-coding scheme in a posh subdivision in Muntinlupa City that aims to reduce the number of vehicles ferrying students to De La Salle Santiago Zobel (DLSZ) school.

DLSZ president Bro. Bernard Oca, in a letter sent to parents and guardians on Jan. 13, said the school administration is evaluating all available legal remedies against the color-coding scheme that will be implemented by the Ayala Alabang Village Association (AAVA).

“The school recognizes that the students who will be affected by the color-coding scheme will have no adequate and reliable means of transportation to and from school on days when their family vehicles will be barred from entering the village,” Oca added.

AAVA president Epifanio Joaquin last month wrote to DLSZ informing them of the plan to start implementing the new policy on Feb. 2.

Under the proposed scheme, the AAVA will issue either green or white stickers to non-residents of the village.

Those with green stickers are allowed to enter the village only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while those issued with white stickers will be allowed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The AAVA said school buses ferrying students, as well as official school vehicles, are exempted from the scheme.

“Parents are allowed to pick up their children who would be staying in school after class hours for extra-curricular activities, regardless of the color of their stickers, after 6 p.m.,” the group added.

More non-resident students

Joaquin said they found that the traffic problem in the subdivision is caused by the increase in the number of DLSZ students who are not residents of Ayala Alabang Village.

“Despite the implementation of a busing system and the so-called ‘efforts’ of DLSZ to encourage students to carpool, the number of vehicles has recently increased to 1,787. The problem has actually worsened,” he added.

Joaquin said while they are willing to accommodate students in their village, this must be reciprocated by the school with real and concerted efforts to preserve the welfare and wellbeing of the residents.

“The AAVA feels that there is a lack of genuine desire on the part of DLSZ to create change that will improve the situation,” he said.

In his response, Oca argued that there was a remarkable improvement in the traffic flow around the school perimeter last year when the school implemented measures, such as widening of school gates and changing class schedules.

“There is no basis for (Joaquin’s) statement that DLSZ ‘lacks the genuine desire to create change that will improve the situation.’ In truth, DLSZ has implemented and incurred unbudgeted expenses to better the flow of traffic in the village,” he said in a statement.

He also noted that the school is still finalizing its carpooling and clustering service “in pursuit of our common goal to minimize the number of vehicles entering the village.”

“In view of the foregoing, we hope that you would reconsider your decision on the color-coding scheme and suspend its implementation especially since a haphazard implementation thereof may pose serious risks to the health and safety of our students,” he told the AAVA.

‘More vehicles not a solution’

In a letter to parents and guardians, the DLSZ parents’ association assured those to be affected by the proposed scheme that the school administration is doing everything to stop its implementation.

The group noted that buying extra vehicles is not a solution, as each family will be issued only one sticker regardless of the number of cars they own.

The DLSZ president said they are currently formulating a contingency plan should the implementation of the scheme push through.