Erap sacks 690 traffic enforcers

MANILA, Philippines - Mayor Joseph Estrada ordered yesterday the mass resignation of 690 traffic enforcers and personnel of the Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau (MTPB) amid allegations that they were involved in extortion and other illegal activities.

Estrada said the MTPB would undergo reorganization.

Estrada said the city’s traffic management operations would be handled temporarily by the Manila Police District (MPD)’s Traffic Enforcement Unit, with help from barangay volunteers and other auxiliary units.

“I am ordering all traffic enforcers of the MTPB to submit their resignation letters. I want all of them out, with no exception,” he said.

Estrada said members of the MTPB found involved in extortion would face the “full force of the law.”

The mayor said his office had been receiving complaints from motorists regarding extortion by the MTPB traffic enforcers.

While admitting that his order would affect the livelihood of the MTPB personnel and their families, Estrada said he had to move for the good of the majority.

He said the sacked traffic personnel may reapply for the same job provided they meet the qualifications that a special selection committee he has formed will formulate.

Estrada said the purpose of the new recruitment process was “to weed out misfits and those with derogatory records.”

The new MTPB recruits would be trained by the MPD headed by its director, Senior Superintendent Joel Coronel.

Estrada issued the directive during the launching of a “traffic super body,” which aims to find long-term solutions to traffic problems in the country’s capital city.

The traffic super body is an inter-agency group composed of city hall and barangay officials, leaders and representatives of transport organizations, Parents-Teachers Associations, business groups, port operators International Container Terminal Services and Asian Terminals Inc. and other stakeholders.

Estrada tasked the team to oversee the implementation of traffic rules and come up with solutions to help decongest the city’s major thoroughfares.

“Traffic is everybody’s concern. We should come up with a collective effort to address traffic congestion,” MTPB head Dennis Alcoreza said.

Alcoreza said the composite team would go around the city to identify traffic-prone areas, mount traffic management operations, including road clearing, and apprehend traffic violators.