ARE you sick and tired of the unending traffic problems in Metro Manila? Go ahead and shout. It’s healthy to express your displeasure in a civilized way.
All of us are getting impatient, angry even, at the worsening traffic situation in the metropolis. That’s why most everyone supports an online petition spearheaded by change.org asking Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Francis N. Tolentino to step down—https://www.change.org/p/mmda-chairman-francis-tolentino-resign-chairman-francis-tolentino.
Tolentino’s resignation is long overdue, said one petitioner: “A government official who can’t do his job must have the conscience to humbly admit that the job is too huge for him and that he wills himself to step down to allow a more competent leader to step in.”
A petitioner from Bulacan wrote: “I am signing because I’m just plain tired and helpless at the way this government works. Maybe there is still hope if somebody will take responsibility and do the needed action to solve our traffic woes. We need results, not talk and blame and more talk.”
Another signatory was more blatant and to the point: “The MMDA is useless. I’m always late for work because of heavy traffic.”
Still, another wanted more heads to roll: “Let’s not single out Tolentino. We must also demand the resignation of [Transportation] Secretary Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya, LTFRB [Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board] Chairman Winston Ginez, and other officials of the transportation group. Severe traffic congestion may be an indication of having a good economy, but failure to address the traffic problem is also a potent indication of a crippled and severely useless government.”
The myriad reasons given by those who signed the petition boils down to this: The insensitivity and arrogance of the government has caused the ordinary Filipino worker unnecessary suffering.
Indeed, haggard commuters needlessly suffer every day because of the MMDA’s incompetence. Our traffic problems have worsened because Tolentino’s attention is elsewhere, especially lately.
Poor commuters have no choice but to bear the consequences of inefficient leadership. Consider: an office worker has to spend at least four hours in traffic every day if she lives in Quezon City and works in Makati City. Only in Metro Manila can you see a motorist needing two ridiculous hours to navigate a relatively short distance of 15 kilometers. Thanks to MMDA’s brand of public service efficiency, cars along Edsa cannot move faster than the giant tortoises on Galápagos Islands.
On the financial side, we are losing billions of pesos every day because of the traffic problem. Our government leaders know this, as they are aware that a study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency in 2013 quantified daily losses due to traffic in the metropolis at P2.6 billion. That’s a lot of money going to waste every day!
If there is still a sense of decency left among our transportation officials, especially the MMDA execs, they should heed the call of their bosses. The MMDA needs a more competent leader. We want somebody with vision who can propose concrete solutions to our traffic problems. We don’t want to reach the point where traveling by foot along Edsa would be more efficient than taking the bus, taxi or train.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano