MANILA -- An official of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Thursday urged the local chief executives in Metro Manila to address perennial traffic problems in the metropolis in line with the directive of President Rodrigo Duterte.
DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III asked the Metro Manila mayors to have an inventory of all public roads in their jurisdiction.
“The inventory of road network can be audited so that we can identify which road network has the problem of congestion because of sidewalks and streets being occupied by illegal structures or illegal occupants,” Densing told the Metro Manila mayors during the Metro Manila Council (MMC) meeting.
Densing also asked the mayors to direct their city councils to start reviewing traffic management ordinances with provisions that allow structures on the sidewalks and amend them prohibiting the existence of those structures in the streets and sidewalks.
Densing said Interior Secretary Eduardo Año is set to issue a memorandum circular to local chief executives that will be used as a basis of compliance to President’s directives orders during the last State of the Nation Address.
“Secretary Año wants a deadline of 60 days from date of issuance (of the memorandum circular),” Densing said.
MMDA chairman Danilo Lim, who presided the meeting, asked the mayors to start with the national roads, Mabuhay Lanes and identified roads that serve as alternative routes.
“For the identified routes, no parking and illegal structures must be allowed then we can deal with the side streets later,” Lim said.
For their reference, Lim gave a copy of the 17 Mabuhay Lane routes to the mayors.
Lim also floated the idea of converting open spaces into a parking area for motorists who do not have a space to park their vehicles.
The mayors said they have started the clearing of major thoroughfares in their localities.
“We have agreed that all Mabuhay lanes and national roads must be reclaimed and be accessible to the public,” MMDA general manager Jose Arturo "Jojo" Garcia said.
Meanwhile, NCRPO Director, Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said he instructed the district directors and chief of police to provide police presence to support the LGUs, MMDA, and DILG to reclaim all public lands being used illegally by unscrupulous persons or groups.
"The NCRPO is committed to support the directive of the President to reclaim public lands from unscrupulous persons who have made these lands private for their own use. We will give ample support to the clearing teams of the local government units, the DILG and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA)," Eleazar said.
The five districts covered by the NCRPO are the Manila Police District (MPD), Quezon City Police District (QCPD), Northern Police District (NPD), Southern Police District (SPD), and Eastern Police District (EPD). (PR with Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/PNA)
