Road rage in hellish traffic

The trouble with giving special mention of who did what is like falling into an open mine pit once you miss a step. This exactly what happened to President Benigno “Noy” Aquino III in his penultimate state of the nation address (SONA) at the joint opening session of the 16th Congress last Monday. President Aquino tackled so many things that his administration has supposedly accomplished so far.

But in obvious desire to give every one his or her due credit, President Aquino missed to mention in his SONA certain government officials. These are the people who really deserve praises for doing so much but without much fanfare to improve the state of the nation.

President Aquino opted to focus more on harping about what his administration has done to solve several situations that need quick fixes. He talked in great length how certain Cabinet officials and government agencies went out their way to extend help to the victims of super typhoon “Yolanda” and other natural and man-made calamities.

The President’s non-mention of certain Cabinet officials in his SONA has triggered speculations of revamp at the last stretch of his administration. P-Noy still has two years of his term. So it’s not too late if P-Noy decides to make some changes in his Cabinet team at this stage to complete whatever legacy he wants his administration to be remembered by.

Perhaps an unintentional oversight but I think Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Francis Tolentino also deserves presidential commendation for the rescue and relief crew immediately flown to Yolanda disaster areas. Speaking of the MMDA chairman, he reminded me of the other equally important and continuing day-to-day problems we encounter right here in Metro Manila. The MMDA chairman has done a lot to ease the perennial monstrous traffic jams here in Metro Manila.

The hellish traffic congestion gets everybody riled up. There seems to be no synchronized efforts by government agencies concerned to come to a common solution to the problem, especially here in Metro Manila.

A case in point is the recent issuance of directive by Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Chairman Winston Ginez Jr. This guy could not seem to comprehend the gravity and seriousness of his agency’s directive in worsening, not easing the traffic congestion problem.

For the information of LTFRB chairman, a recent study conducted by a United States think tank revealed that the Philippine economy loses about $3.6 billion, or P153 billion a year because of traffic congestion, particularly in Metro Manila.

That was a huge amount that could have been used for other worthwhile endeavors and projects. It is a rough estimate of productivity losses. Because of the incompetence of low-level policymakers in transport agency like Ginez, the government’s overall direction to sustain economic growth also gets stalled along the way.

The same study revealed that of the $3.6 billion, $1 billion is lost in wasted gasoline, electricity, man-hours and hiring of traffic aides. The bigger bulk of $2.6 billion represents losses from reduced sales and investment disincentives.

But Ginez appears to be disinterested in solving the perennial traffic congestion. Instead of solving the same, he issued LTFRB Memorandum Circular No.10, Series of 2014 that would “allow out of route buses to travel to major thoroughfares like EDSA.”

The MMDA projects of Tolentino aimed to improve traffic flow in Metro Manila are proving to be effective. But that single circular from the LTFRB would mean more than 2,000 buses are again allowed to enter Metro Manila. The roads are not expanding any wider and yet they will add more vehicles to traverse EDSA.

That circular was in direct contrast with the efforts of Tolentino who has been working very hard to solve the traffic mess here in Metro Manila that has the most number of motor vehicles all over the country.

Tolentino has shown his steadfast dedication to free Metro Manila streets from traffic jams. He is credited for coming out with innovative ideas such as setting up of bus terminals on pre-determined areas to bring sense to bus movements.

In July 2013, the MMDA barred around 900 Cavite- and Batangas-bound buses from entering Metro Manila. As a result, Metro-bound passengers had to get off at the Southwest Integrated Provincial Transport Terminal (SWIPTT) on Coastal Road in Parañaque City and take another ride to get to their destination.

The SWIPTT was one of three integrated terminals for provincial buses ordered put up by President Aquino through Executive Order No. 67 Series of 2012, which envisioned a “centralized, intermodal and integrated bus terminal system at the fringes of Metro Manila.”

Tolentino also questioned the LTFRB’s decision to allow public utility vehicles to operate outside their approved routes for 120 days with the suspension of enforcement operations against out-of-line violations from June 19 to Oct. 17.

The MMDA chairman believed the LTFRB decision disregarded the policy set by President Aquino. “The President’s decision is a high-policy statement which one agency cannot just change,” Tolentino pointed out.

These LTFRB circulars could result to un-imaginable daily traffic chaos, especially with the onset of the rainy season. Worse, there are a lot of ongoing road repairs like those in Roxas Boulevard and other infrastructure projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Yesterday, the MMDA chairman disclosed he nearly fell from his seat after reading newspaper reports announcing the DPWH will close Sucat inter-change bridge for 45 days to give way for its rehabilitation to start tomorrow (Saturday). It turned out the DPWH district engineer did not even consult with the MMDA, neither with the city government of Parañaque.

These developments at the traffic management front certainly deserve a second hard look from President Aquino himself. Tolentino is obviously doing all he can within his powers to solve the traffic mess. But certain transport agency officials like Ginez, who for unknown reasons did not even coordinate with the MMDA, are courting public outrage.

And unless our transport agency officials get their act together, these daily hellish traffic gridlocks certainly could cause “road rage” like the near fatal one that happened last Saturday in EDSA.