Lawmaker asks SC to curb EDSA bus ban

MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker on Monday sought relief from the Supreme Court on the implementation of the ban on provincial buses on Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue, the capital's main highway.

Rep. Joey Salceda (Albay), who will be on his second term in July, filed a Petition for Prohibition and/or Mandamus, urging the high court to issue a halt order against the Metro Manila Development Authority regulation that prohibits or revokes the permits of provincial utility bus (PUB) terminals along EDSA.

Salceda said he is filing the petition as someone affected by the ban and “for and on behalf of his constituents directly affected by MMDA Regulation No. 19-002, series of 2019."

The directive, to be fully implemented in June, will remove public utility bus terminals along EDSA and and ban operators from using the road.

The MMDA started a dry run of the policy last April.

'Economic disruption, inconvenience, expenses'

Salceda added that the MMDA had overstepped its legal authority and violated the franchises of the affected PUBs and lease agreements between bus operators and terminal owners.

The lawmaker argued that the MMDA, named as respondent in the petition, acted with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction when it issued the resolution “without taking into consideration the economic disruption, inconvenience, expense and damages that they may cause.”

He cited 2017 figures that showed daily traffic on EDSA consists of 3,300 provincial buses, which is lower than the 12,000 city buses and 247,000 private vehicles plying the major thoroughfare.

He also pointed out that this regulation affected mostly “poor people, if not, small time businessmen from the provinces carrying their goods to and from Metro Manila or travel to the big city for some other personal business.”

“A unilateral imposition of an oppressive order by an agency is tantamount to disenfranchisement of valid franchise holder for the operation of public utility by a government agency which the State ought to protect,” the petition further read added.

Salceda’s filing followed the Ako Bicol party-list’s plea filed on April 29 asking the SC to strike down the memorandum as null and void ab initio(void from the beginning) for allegedly violating laws and the Constitution.