MMDA starts implementing bus number-coding scheme

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) stood pat on its decision to impose a number-coding scheme for public utility buses on Monday as it apologized for the inconvenience caused by a strike staged by bus operators. MMDA spokeswoman Tina Velasco said Monday that despite the strike, the number-coding scheme puts them on the right track to decongest Metro Manila's main roads. "Ipagpasensya ng publiko sa nangyayari ngayon, we are just starting to implement this (pero) hindi namin ititigil ito," she said in an interview on dzBB radio. (We apologize to the public for the inconvenience. We are just starting to implement this scheme. But the strike will not make us stop implementing it) Velasco said they are studying the filing of charges against the bus operators behind the strike, for possible economic sabotage. "We are reviewing all of these. We are just here to implement the law but with regard to compassion and public safety," she said. The number-coding scheme, officially named the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP), is a traffic management program of the MMDA aimed to reduce the amount of vehicular traffic in Metro Manila. Vehicles whose plate numbers end in a particular number are barred from using the main streets of Metro Manila on particular days. Vehicles whose plate numbers end in 1 or 2, for instance, cannot travel through Metro Manila's main streets on Mondays. Sanctions vs bus operators Meanwhile, MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said their agency is coordinating with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) about possibly imposing sanctions against the bus operators involved in Monday's strike. Tolentino also insisted there are enough vehicles from the MMDA and Armed Forces of the Philippines to accommodate commuters affected by the strike. Meanwhile, she said they are trying to cope with the inconvenience caused by the sudden bus strike. She said the MMDA is now tracking its traffic enforcer teams, many of which were reported absent in key Metro Manila roads. Velasco said MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino proceeded to check the situation along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. "We (are supposed to) have 15 MMDA enforcers at every point especially Commonwealth. We will make sure we have people there," she said. Cops deployed to protect buses Meanwhile, teams composed of police and MMDA personnel were deployed to protect passenger buses that did not take part in the strike. Radio dzBB's Allan Gatus reported the teams, deployed by the Quezon City police, include two MMDA and police personnel each. Superintendent Alex Sintin of the Quezon City police said the teams will protect bus drivers and passengers from those taking part in the strike. He said the police component of the teams will come from the Metro Manila police's regional public safety battalion. – VVP, GMANews.TV