Ex-LTFRB exec named QC’s traffic czar

MANILA, Philippines — Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte has named a former Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) official as the city’s new traffic czar. 

Former LTFRB board member and Quezon City councilor Ariel Inton was named action officer of the newly created Quezon City Task Force for Transport and Traffic Management.

The task force, created by Belmonte through an executive order, will take over the city’s traffic management duties from the Department of Public Order and Safety, which will focus on the clearing obstructions and illegal infrastructure and the management and promotion of “green” transport such as electric jeeps and tricycles.

The task force will remain in place until the city council approves the creation of a traffic department, which is part of the 14-point executive agenda of Belmonte.

The creation of the task force followed President Duterte’s directive to clear roads in Metro Manila of obstructions to address traffic congestion.

Belmonte vowed to comply with the 60-day deadline of the Department of the Interior and Local Government to decongest roads, particularly major thoroughfares and mabuhay lanes.

Inton, in a phone interview with The STAR yesterday, said they have begun clearing mabuhay lanes in compliance with the DILG directive.

He said they towed illegally parked and abandoned vehicles along West Avenue as part of their campaign.