Creation of Traffic Crisis Management body sought

FILE: Traffic jam on EDSA (Photo By Judgefloro – Own work, CC0)

MANILA — A resolution recommending the creation of an inter-agency council that would consolidate and harmonize all transport and traffic policies to address the urgent traffic crisis in Metro Manila hurdled committee level at the House of Representatives.

During its hearing on Wednesday, the House Committee on Transportation, chaired by Samar Rep. Edgar Sarmiento, approved House Resolution 353, which seeks the creation of a Traffic Crisis Inter-Agency Management Council.

The proposed council shall be composed of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Land Transportation Office (LTO), Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), and the Philippine National Police–Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG).

Sarmiento, the author of the resolution, cited that the country ranked first in the Traffic Index among Southeast Asian countries and fifth in all Asian countries for 2019.

Sarmiento stressed the urgent need to consolidate and harmonize all the traffic management policies and plans of government agencies responsible for such policies.

“There is a need for the creation and convention of an executive council with its core members consisting of the leaders of the above enumerated agencies, offices, and departments, to serve as an efficient venue for the consolidation and harmonization of traffic management policies and plans further consultation with the public, and implementation of the resulting consolidated policies and plans,” Sarmiento said in his resolution.