Marcos eyes Metro Manila smart city, network resilience plan

MANILA, Philippines — The Marcos administration will embark on a smart city project linking Metro Manila with state agencies to improve disaster response and traffic management.

Officials tackled on Tuesday the Metro Manila Smart City Infrastructure for Network Resilience project during a sectoral meeting led by President Marcos at Malacañang.

The project aims to connect local government units with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and Department of Information and Communications Technology.

“All of Metro Manila will be connected to a single, efficient system using fiber optic networks,” Marcos posted on Facebook.

Traffic lights would be synchronized to achieve smoother traffic flow, allow real-time flood monitoring through interconnected closed-circuit television and ensure fast delivery of aid during disasters, the President noted.

PUVMP review

Meanwhile, Sen. Grace Poe has expressed support for newly appointed Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon as he heeded calls to review the public utility vehicle modernization program (PUVMP).

“For more than seven years, we have been asking the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to fix the program first before setting any other deadline,” Poe said.

“Aside from the lack of route plans, very expensive units, foreign designs and lack of subsidy for drivers, the utilization rate of the program is also very low, only hitting 53 percent of the P7.5-billion budget from 2018 to 2024,” Poe noted.

An additional P1.6 billion was allocated to the program in the national budget this year, she said.

“This is the time for the DOTr to listen to the grievances of drivers and passengers and pave the way for the humane modernization of our transport sector,” Poe said.

Extending MRT, LRT hours

Progressive group Akbayan has lauded Dizon’s openness to extending the operating hours of the Metro Rail Transit and Light Railway Transit.

Extending train hours will be beneficial to commuters and workers taking a night shift, Akbayan party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña said yesterday.

Akbayan first nominee Chel Diokno has urged the DOTr to institutionalize a citizens’ dialogue mechanism to better design transport systems in the country.