Aquino deploys PNP-Highway Patrol Group on EDSA

EDSA (Wikipedia photo)

MANILA – President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III deployed the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group as the lead traffic law enforcement agency on EDSA – one of Metro Manila’s most congested thoroughfares.

The PNP-Highway Patrol Group will be working together with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Land Transportation Office (LTO), and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) in easing the traffic condition on EDSA.

Clearing intersections in Balintawak, Cubao, Guadalupe, Ortigas, Shaw Boulevard, and Taft Avenue will be prioritized, while stricter observance of traffic rules and regulations will be enforced.

Aquino tapped the PNP-Highway Patrol Group for the worsening EDSA traffic because of the ‘urgency and since EDSA has the heaviest volume of vehicle traffic and people in a day.’

About 100 policement will be deployed on EDSA next week.

MMDA Chairman Francis N. Tolentino, for his part, welcomed the PNP-Highway Patrol Group and believed that this would restore discipline among motorists and commuters.

“The issue of familiarity among traffic enforcers deployed on EDSA will be lessened with the deployment of police,” he said.

“We need all the help we can get since traffic flow is getting worse each day. You cannot put all the responsibility in just one agency, what happens is the agency is getting all the blame,” he added.