Duterte eyes 60-kph speed limit for EDSA

MANILA, Philippines - Incoming president Rodrigo Duterte said yesterday he will impose a 60-kilometer per hour (kph) speed limit for vehicles on EDSA and vowed to be tough on violators.

This is the same speed limit observed in Davao City, where he served as mayor for more than 22 years.

“On EDSA, if people get drunk, they accelerate their vehicles,” he said in Filipino in a press briefing in Davao City yesterday.

Duterte said he is ready to shame those who violate the regulation.

“I will strip you naked and call the media. If you want to file charges against me, fine,” the tough-talking mayor said.

Duterte also reminded motorists not to drink to avoid accidents.

“Do not drink and drive. Once you do that, you’ll know that you might kill a person,” he said.

Duterte also stressed that he would impose a curfew on minors. He added that he would no longer deploy village watchmen or tanod because “they do nothing but drink.”

Republic Act 4136, the Land Transportation Code, sets the speed limit for cars on EDSA at 40 kph and 30 kph for trucks and buses.

In 2013, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority imposed a 60-kph limit on Commonwealth Avenue to address the increasing number of accidents along the “killer highway.”