Fulfilling a promise

There are simply too many people in Metro Manila and too many vehicles for President Duterte to be able to deliver on his promise of decongesting traffic in Metro Manila, particularly on EDSA.

But there are ways of easing the problem, although several are unlikely to be achieved during his watch, even if he threatens all the players with the mummy treatment.

One obvious solution is better mass transportation, but we went backward in this area in the previous administration. If that debate between the Hugpong ng Pagbabago and Otso Diretso materializes, the disgraceful disaster that is the Metro Rail Transit III is an Achilles heel in the clean image that the opposition bets are working to project.

The Metro Manila subway project, the first of its kind in the country, has finally broken ground. People are confident that Japanese expertise and development assistance will deliver a good product. But for those approaching senior status or older, a common comment even as the groundbreaking was hailed was: “Would I still be around to see the subway in operation?”

For sure, Rodrigo Duterte will no longer be president when the subway is inaugurated.

It could also take another generation before the railway system is rehabilitated and upgraded enough to serve as a viable mode for transporting cargo from the Port of Manila to various points in Luzon. Such a train service will significantly reduce traffic congestion in many parts of Metro Manila, since the trucks traveling to and from the Manila shipping port pass through major thoroughfares on their way to the provinces. Traffic on the truck lanes on C-5 and connecting roads to the North Luzon Expressway is almost always at snail’s pace, and it affects the other road lanes. 

It could also take another generation before the commuter train and light railway services in Metro Manila are modernized and expanded enough to persuade private car owners to leave their vehicles and take mass transportation. One look at the passengers packed literally like sardines in the aging commuter trains during rush hour and no car owner will let go of his vehicle.

Bickering and lobbying over the locations of train stations alone could take a decade to resolve.

*      *      *

Simply enforcing the law and traffic rules can go a long way. Will we ever see traffic enforcers shooing away or apprehending bus drivers who linger too long at certain spots while waiting for passengers?

The reason for this has been known for ages. Bus operators pay their drivers based on the number of passengers picked up rather than giving them fixed salaries.

As far back as January 2012, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board had required bus operators to end the boundary system and pay their drivers and conductors fixed salaries. The LTFRB required the operators to secure labor compliance certificates first from the Department of Labor and Employment before the renewal of their franchises. The DOLE issued the necessary circular for this in the same month, and the operational guidelines in February 2012.

These seemingly simple administrative orders went through six years of litigation. In September last year, the Supreme Court affirmed the legality of the fixed-wage scheme. The case must be on appeal, since buses continue to turn strategic stops on major thoroughfares, including EDSA and Buendia, into their terminals.

Since judicial appeals move at glacial pace in this country, the subway might be finished before final judgment is rendered in the fixed-salary case. In the meantime, all you can do is honk your car horn at the drivers of DLTB and JAC Liner, two of the country’s largest operators, when their buses block the road to pick up passengers. (You’ll be ignored.)

If the government is helpless in enforcing the fixed-salary scheme, it should be able to crack down on traffic enforcers who look the other way when buses turn busy thoroughfares into their private terminals.

There must be a thousand reasons why traffic enforcers – whether employed by the police, the Metro Manila Development Authority or city hall – see no evil when it comes to buses that cause gridlocks.

Duterte doesn’t need emergency powers to order a crackdown on such traffic (non)enforcers.

*      *      *

Another doable for him is to order the opening of certain roads in private subdivisions to the public. This has been done in Las Piñas, where residents get vehicle stickers for free from the city government for access to the so-called “friendship route” passing through several private subdivisions, from Daanghari near Alabang to the city’s boundaries with Cavite and Parañaque.

The Las Piñas government keeps the friendship route, which is closed to public utility vehicles, well lighted and the road well maintained. The rest of the areas in the private villages are still closed to non-residents. Most of the friendship route is classified as a commercial area.

This should be done in Parañaque, where the cost of non-resident vehicle stickers for the United BF Homes has shot up to more than P2,000 for ordinary cars. No one knows what formula the homeowners’ association uses for setting the rates.

The sticker gives access to only four roads, two of which are in fact covered by the friendship sticker since they are part of Las Piñas. The two in Parañaque are commercial roads and should have been taken over by the city government ages ago. There must be a million reasons why there has never been political will at city hall for this to happen.

Taxes and fees are paid for road use, and city governments are mandated to maintain local roads. The city government of Makati went to court to open a few roads in certain private villages to the public – and of course the city government won, because it’s for the greater good.

President Duterte will have the law (and motorists’ support) on his side in case he orders similar moves elsewhere in Metro Manila. And he doesn’t need emergency powers for this.

*      *      *

KEEP OUT: The sprawling property with a red fence where Chinese eateries sprung up just a few weeks ago briefly displayed a streamer that welcomed diners to “China Golden City.”

When former vice president Jejomar Binay was mayor of Makati, the city passed an ordinance requiring English or Filipino translations in all restaurants and other establishments that cater to the public. But it seems China Golden City found a simpler remedy.

Last week the streamer was replaced with a sign declaring that the area is private property and advising “unauthorized persons” to keep out. That means, according to the Pinoy guards, only Chinese are allowed at the eateries  inside. Not Tsinoys, but Chinese.