PBBM weighs plan to move gov’t work hours in NCR, to consult public

FILE: HOLIDAY RUSH. Vehicles line up bumper-to-bumper along J.P. Laurel Avenue in Davao City on Friday (Dec. 13, 2024). The Davao City Traffic and Transportation Management Office has deployed additional enforcers to manage the surge in vehicles during the holiday season. (PNA photo by Robinson Niñal Jr.)

By Darryl John Esguerra, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Monday said the government is studying the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority’s (MMDA) recommendation to adjust government working hours in Metro Manila as a measure to ease traffic congestion.

Marcos said that while the proposal to start work hours from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the National Capital Region is being considered, it is important to assess its practicality for the commuting public.

“We’re studying it. If it works, we’ll do it. But we have to, it’s not enough to talk to the traffic enforcers and the administrators of traffic that have made the suggestion. We also have to ask the commuting public kung practical para sa kanila,” Marcos said in an interview in Taguig City.

He added that if the public supports the adjustment, there should be no reason why it would not be implemented.

“So if [it] turns out that everyone agrees to it then I cannot see why it will be a problem,” he said.

Earlier, MMDA chair Don Artes said such move could address the traffic congestion in Metro Manila.

Last year, local government units in the NCR implemented earlier working hours, from 7 a.

m. to 4 p.m.