THE terrible traffic on Epifanio de los Santos Ave. (EDSA) is the result of hundreds of thousands of vehicles added to Metro traffic every year, without enough roads to accommodate them. There is general agreement that the traffic situation should improve when all the elevated roads now under construction are completed.
The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has devised some measures to improve the traffic in the interim. And this is where there is great disagreement. Its move to close down the bus terminals on EDSA, mostly in the Cubao area in Quezon City, has now been challenged by Albay Rep. Joey Salceda in a petition filed with the Supreme Court.
The Metro Manila Council, the MMDA’s governing board, had approved Regulation No. 19-002 prohibiting the issuance of business permits to public utility vehicle terminals on EDSA. With the permits revoked, the local government units could close down the terminals.
The Ako Bicol party-list group – followed by Congressman Salceda – went to the Supreme Court and asked it to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) or writ of preliminary injunction to stop the MMDA move, on the ground that it violated the franchises issued by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
The MMDA regulation is “oppressive and unfair” to the bus companies and will cause “economic disruption, inconvenience, and added financial burden to ordinary commuters,” Salceda said. It will not ease EDSA traffic, he said, because, while it may remove 6,000 provincial buses, it is bound to added 20,000 smaller vehicles to bring the provincial commuters to their final destinations in the city.
The High Court was asked to decide on the legal issue of alleged violation of franchise provisions, as well as existing rental contracts between the bus companies and the EDSA lot owners. Against this is the right and duty of the MMDA to issue a regulation to improve Metro Manila traffic, one of its key responsibilities.
The legal issue alone – involving franchises and contracts – may take months to settle, considering the heavy load of our court system. We hope the court can find a way to act more speedily than usual in a case that affects so many people.
But apart from the legal issue, there is the big question of whether the MMDA plan will solve the EDSA traffic problem. It could keep 6,000 provincial buses out of EDSA, as Congressman Salceda said, but it could add 20,000 smaller vehicles to carry the bus passengers to their destinations in the big city.
We have to avoid the unfortunate experience of that provincial bus terminal built on Coastal Road in Paranaque City, where bus passengers from Batangas and Cavite all had to get off, but found there were no vehicles to carry them on to Manila, Pasay, Makati, and their other final destinations.
