President Benigno Aquino III ordered on Wednesday the Department of Transportation and Communications and other agencies to address the “day-to-day” traffic in Metro Manila while the national government works on long-term solutions to the problem.
“The President has tasked the DoTC and other concerned agencies to address day-to-day problems faced by commuters in the NCR,” said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. DoTC is headed by Secretary Joseph Abaya, an officer of the ruling Liberal Party whose standard bearer in the May presidential elections is Manuel Roxas II, erstwhile chief of DoTC.
“Additional transport infrastructure are also being built and planned to provide long-term solutions,” said Coloma.
The performance of all Cabinet members is being assessed continually by the President as Chief Executive, Coloma also said.
President Aquino earlier said his administration is “hard at work” to ease traffic congestion in Metro Manila.
He told earlier an international tripartite group of business and government leaders and members of the academe that the government has invested much in “critical infrastructure” for transportation.
“Critical transport infrastructure like seaports, airports, bus terminals and light rail transport continue to be upgraded, while big-ticket projects for transportation systems are in the pipeline. This will not only ensure that the Philippines becomes more competitive, but that the benefits of trade, investment and growth are able to reach even the most far-flung communities of the Philippines,” he said.
Acknowledging how the traffic congestion has become a bane among commuters and motorists in the nation’s capital, Aquino said “a task force of different agencies is hard at work to alleviate traffic along Metro Manila’s thoroughfares.”
Aquino also earlier directed the police Highway Patrol Group to ensure that traffic rules are enforced in Metro Manila’s main thoroughfares, augmenting the Metro Manila Development Authority’s “constables” or traffic enforcers.
He said he wanted to untangle the traffic jam in six perennial choke points along Edsa.