Saying that the traffic problem in the National Capital region is “more than just a state of mind,” Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada on Monday sought the help of school officials and students in solving it, especially in the University Belt.
Early this month, Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade was quoted in the media as saying that the Metro Manila traffic congestion is just a state of mind.
“We all know that areas near and around the universities experience high-volume traffic so we’ve sought the help of school officials and students directly affected by traffic jams,” Estrada said.
He launched his “Pook Kaayusan Adopt-a-Traffic Enforcer” program that invites universities and colleges are to “adopt” a team of Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau (MTPB) traffic enforcers to manage vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
In return, the school administrations are urged to give traffic enforcers free meals, allowances, or tuition discounts or scholarship grants for their children.
“Traffic enforcers, as we all know, receive meager salaries, the reason why most of them resort to extortion,” the bureau said.
“They will own the problem,” it added. “And since they know the community better than us, we will engage them in solving traffic.”
Among those that have positively responded to the program are UP Manila and the so-called “Mendiola Consortium”: Centro Escolar University, College of the Holy Spirit, La Consolacion College Manila, San Beda College, and Saint Jude Catholic School, the bureau said.
There are 27 public and private colleges and universities in the University Belt area alone, 13 on Taft Avenue, and four located within the walls of Intramuros.
School officials will also be given authority, in close coordination with MTPB, to deputize their own personnel or students in managing traffic in their respective jurisdictions.