The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) today announced the temporary suspension of the dry run of its provincial bus ban on EDSA, Metro Manila’s main thoroughfare.
The MMDA announced its decision through an advisory which it posted on its official Facebook account. MMDA General Manager Jojo Garcia said the postponement was made because the MMDA, the Department of Transportation (DoTr), and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) have yet to meet and finalize the policy’s implementing rules.
Garcia added that the suspension was done also because he didn’t want the policy to be politicized which may happen due to the upcoming elections. Despite the suspension of the dry run, provincial buses are still prohibited from taking and disembarking passengers on EDSA.
Last month, AKO BICOL, a party-list group representing residents of the Bicol region, filed a petition at the Supreme Court urging it to stop the implementation of the ban, which is planned to be fully implemented in June.
The party-list group is running for re-election in next week’s election.
According to the group’s petition, the MMDA does not have the authority to implement the ban because they are not allowed by the law to enact ordinances, reported ABS-CBN News. The group also said that the planned bus ban has no legal or scientific basis and that MMDA did it only because it allegedly received a verbal instruction from President Rodrigo Duterte during a meeting in October 2018.
The group said the ban is “very injurious to poor rural people” because it would allegedly make them pay higher transport fares if they need to travel to Metro Manila from the provinces, reported The Philippine Star.
MMDA head of traffic Bong Nebrija said, however, that banning provincial buses from EDSA would decongest the highway and ease traffic, reported UNTV News. He also said that those opposing the ban are just hindering the MMDA from doing its job.
When the ban becomes effective in June, bus terminals along EDSA will be closed down by the MMDA, and buses have to move their terminals to Parañaque, Valenzuela City, and Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Passengers can only hop on and off in those terminals. From those terminals, they have to take other forms of transport to reach their destinations within Metro Manila.
