MMDA, police team up vs traffic violators

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the police have teamed up in cracking down on traffic violators along Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) in Metro Manila. MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said their teamup with the Philippine National Police's Traffic Management Group, which began last week, will put more teeth on traffic enforcement efforts. "Together with the PNP, we are buttressing our efforts to put a stop to the horrors of congested roads, traffic moving at a snail's pace or even stops to a standstill especially along EDSA. We will throw the book at undisciplined drivers who are so brazen in violating traffic laws," Tolentino said in an article on the MMDA website. MMDA lady enforcers have also been tapped to beef up the teams, he added. "We have decided to join hands with the PNP and other concerned agencies to find honest-to-goodness answers to the perennial traffic problem and breakdown of discipline drivers," he said. The MMDA will deputize members of the PNP-HPG to form part of the strengthened composite teams of traffic enforcers to man traffic along chokepoints. The chokepoints include portions of Pasay City, Baclaran in Parañaque, Taft Avenue in Manila, and the northbound and southbound parts of EDSA. However, Tolentino said this will still be part of a long-term program to educate motorists to obey the law and practice discipline on the road. "Our collaborative efforts with the PNP is part of a long-term task that refers to the general picture, to educate our countrymen on obeying the law and instilling discipline on them," he said. – VVP, GMANews.TV