MMDA to revamp personnel

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will undergo a reorganization following the transfer of its traffic management function to the Highway Patrol Group (HPG), an official said yesterday.

MMDA acting chairman Thomas Orbos said no one will lose their job during the reorganization, which is set within this week or the next.

“It has nothing to do with competence. It is not a new mandate, but a new focus. All the offices will be affected,” he said, adding that this move will enable the agency to realign resources to areas still under its control, such as flood control and waste management.

Orbos said while traffic management has been transferred to the HPG, the MMDA’s traffic enforcers will remain under the agency’s administrative control.

However, the enforcers will take their orders from the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the HPG, he added.

Orbos said the agency will also focus on sidewalk clearing and conducting an anti-smoking drive.

Orbos said that with traffic management no longer with the MMDA, the agency can focus on other areas like sidewalk clearing and pursuing the anti-smoking drive.

 “I will go for how they did it in Davao City. I want to convert the (metropolis) into a livable and breathable city. I will revive the anti-littering and anti-smoking campaigns and sidewalk clearing,” he said.

Earlier, Orbos said HPG chief Senior Superintendent Antonio Gardiola would hand out orders to enforcers from the HPG, MMDA, Land Transportation Office and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board under the newly formed Inter-Agency Committee on Traffic.

He said a unified effort could solve the worsening problem of traffic congestion in Metro Manila.