Albay Rep. Joey Salceda yesterday filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to stop the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority from implementing the provincial bus ban on EDSA.
Salceda told the SC that MMDA Regulation No. 19-002, in effect, prohibits the issuance or revokes all permits granted to provincial bus operators to maintain bus terminals and operate their units on EDSA. He said the regulation is “anti-poor” since only provincial commuters would be affected.
Citing MMDA’s 2007 figures, Salceda said there are 3,300 provincial buses, 12,000 city buses, and more than 247,000 private vehicles that pass EDSA daily.
“Why pick on residents from the provinces to solve Metro Manila’s traffic,” he lamented.
Salceda’s petition was the second filed against the provincial bus ban set to be implemented next month. The first was filed by the Ako-Bicol party-list group.
Thru Reps. Ronald Ang and Alfredo Garbin Jr., Ako-Bicol pleaded the SC to issue a Temporary Restraining Order to stop, in the meantime, the provincial bus ban.
Ako-Bicol alleged that the issuance of the regulation is tantamount to an exercise of police power which the MMDA and the Metro Manila Council do not possess. “There is no single word or syllables in Republic Act No. 7924 (the MMDA law) that grants MMDA police power, let alone legislative power. Even respondent MMC has not been delegated any legislative power,” the party-list group stressed.
It pointed out that provincial buses are not the main cause of traffic congestion on EDSA but city buses and private motor vehicles.
Both petitions pointed out that the closure of provincial bus terminals on EDSA violates the Public Service Act and other laws which mandate public utility bus operators to maintain their own terminals.
The two petitions stressed that there were no public consultations before the MMDA regulations was issued. “For the record, there was no single public hearing conducted by Respondents MMC and MMDA prior to the regulation’s intended implementation…,” the petitions stated.
The SC is on its decision-writing period this month. Sessions in its three divisions and the full court will resume first week of June. (Rey Panaligan)
