Alabang traffic scheme row reaches HLURB

MANILA, Philippines - The administration of De La Salle Santiago Zobel (DLSZ) school has raised the issue on the proposed color-coding scheme in a subdivision in Muntinlupa City to the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB).

Rex Daryanani, spokesman for the DLSZ Parents’ Association, said school administrators believe the traffic scheme to be implemented by the Ayala Alabang Village Association (AAVA) is in violation of the Magna Carta for Homeowners and Homeowners’ Associations.

He said the HLURB would conduct a hearing to resolve the issue.

The traffic scheme aims to reduce the number of vehicles ferrying students to DLSZ.

Parents of DLSZ students earlier filed a petition before a Muntinlupa court seeking to stop the traffic scheme that is set to be implemented next week.

On Tuesday, Judge Philip Aguinaldo of the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 207 granted a 20-day temporary restraining order (TRO) against the color-coding scheme.

Daryanani said the petition for a TRO was part of the case filed against AAVA for violating the rights of the students who will be affected by the policy.

Under the traffic scheme, cars with green stickers are allowed to enter the village only on Tuesday and Thursday. Vehicles with white stickers will be allowed to enter the subdivision on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

AAVA president Epifanio Joaquin, in a letter to DLSZ president Bernie Oca, said the traffic jams caused by vehicles taking students to the school forced them to adopt the policy.

But Oca said there has been a remarkable improvement in traffic flow around the school perimeter since last year when the school implemented measures such as widening of school gates and changing class schedules.

“There is no basis for your 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 improve the flow of traffic in the village,” Oca told Joaquin.

A group of homeowners expressed support for the DLSZ students.

The STAR has repeatedly tried but failed to get the reaction of AAVA on the statements of DLSZ and the parents’ association.

In a statement released by motoring website Top Gear Philippines, Joaquin defended the traffic scheme and maintained the need for such measure.

“All AAVA management is asking from DLSZ and the parents is to understand the sufferings of our fellow residents, especially those directly affected by the daily nuances of the effects of the traffic,” he said.

Joaquin also branded as “arrogant” a supposed statement of a DLSZ parent, who allegedly maintained that “La Sallians will never carpool or ride the bus, because they are elitist.”

Daryanani, however, disputed the statement and said the school is conducting a study on the clustering of students for the implementation of a school bus system.

He said they cannot force a parent to go along with. “This is not dictatorship,” he said.