i SEnsimessWorld

ro/ffis
t*'Nation !hssiee*tsWorld
luEsDAY l,lAY 28,2019

Albay representative
asks SC to stop EDSA
provincial bus ban
ALBAY 2xD Dishict Rep. Clemente Joey S. Salceda
asked the Supreme Court (SC) to halt the 14etropoli-
tan Manila Development Authority (t'lMDA) from
implementing its regulation banning provincial
buses alons EDSA.
This is the second petiti0n t0 be filed against
MMDA Regulation N0.l9-002, dated t4arch 26 this
yeal which prohibjts the lssuance and revokes exist-
ing permits of public utility bus (PUB) terminals and
operators along FDSA.
AKO BicolPartylist, in a petition fited tast Aprit29,
sought to nullify the new policy, which is planned for
fuli implementation by.,une.
ln hisl5-page petition, Mr. Salcedasought the
issuance ofa temporary restraining order 0r pre-
liminary injunrtion against the regulation, saying its
implementation "willn0t res0lve the traffic conges-
tion in EDSA."
Citing statistics from Land Transportation Office,
Mr. Salceda n0ted that there are 0nq4rO00 provin"
cial buses that pass along EDSA compared t0 the
2.8 million cars inlhe NationalCapitalRegi0n. Only
1,500 going t0 I'letro Manila are from the south while
2,500 are from the north. Of the north-bound buses,
236 are from Albay.
He also said that tra nsferring the bus stati0n to
designated hubs north and south ofthe capitalwill
aggravate the situation and cause "additio nal bu rden"
to people from the provin(es.
"There is no correlation between the original
'r00ms of the affected pUBs and the congestion
of traffjc in EDSA since the traffjc congestion in
EDSA during office hours are caused by private
vehicles and city publjc buses, not by affected
PUBs," he said.
The Albay.representative als0 assailed the regu-
lation'saying it violates existing franchises 0f pUBs
issued by the Land Transportation Franchising and
Regulatory B0ard and lease agreements between
the operators of the buses and terminal ov,ners.
He said that most oJ the affected passengers
are "p0or people, il not;small time businessmen
from the provinces carrying their goods to and
from Metro Manila or travetto the big city for
some other personal business,', he said.
.lilarlo lil. Vi egas
-
Vann

" PAq.;- p fat

t'