A MILITANT labor group chided President Aquino for allegedly tolerating the “incompetence” of Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Francis N. Tolentino to address the worsening traffic problem in Metro Manila.
The Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) said Tolentino, the country’s “traffic czar,” also failed to address problems that fall under the mandate and jurisdiction of the MMDA after five years in office.
Worse, they said President Aquino has done nothing to address the public outrage.
Aside from traffic, the group said the MMDA under Tolentino’s watch also failed in the area of flood control, pollution control, urban renewal and development of slum areas, public safety and solid-waste management.
“Similar to the monstrous state of our traffic, Tolentino’s inability has also been evident in flood control, pollution control, urban renewal and development of slum areas, public safety and solid-waste management efforts of the agency,” said Leody de Guzman, chairman of BMP, in a statement.
“If compared to any ordinary worker in any company, he would have been terminated by now or heavily penalized with pay cuts. Worse, he would be blacklisted,” he added. De Guzman said workers suffer the brunt of the mess in Metro Manila’s public transport because of Tolentino’s poor performance. Yet, he said Tolentino continues to enjoy President Aquino’s support.
Travel time in Metro Manila, he said, worsened from 2.17 minute per kilometer to 20 minutes per kilometer. He said the public deserves better service much more than what Tolentino and the MMDA can offer in exchange for “the hefty paycheck” he receives as MMDA chairman and the annual budget the agency gets from government coffers.
Tolentino receives an annual salary of P1.8 million and the MMDA has an annual budget of P2 billion, he said.
“We deserve better; we want our money’s worth,” he said.
1 comment
Bayani Fernando was far better than this koopaI.