The metropolis is plagued with traffic, flood, waste and pollution woes, and for several lawmakers, addressing these pressing urban modern-day problems may require a stronger Metropolitan Manila Council (MMC).
Authored by 32 lawmakers from Metro Manila, House Bill 6973 proposes to empower the MMC to issue ordinances that shall have the full force and effect of law in Metro Manila. The bill is now up for plenary deliberations in the House of Representatives.
Debates on MMC’s empowerment rage in the lower chamber, amid the call to shift the country’s form of government to a federal system.
The federal system is expected to promote equal distribution of resources and decentralization of powers, which will benefit largely the far-flung regions and provinces of the country.
Improvement
Metro Manila, the capital region of the Philippines, has an overall population of 12.8 million.
The lawmakers said their proposal seeks to strengthen the policy-making authority of the MMC to improve the delivery of services within the mandate of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), such as traffic management, garbage disposal and public safety, among others.
Under the bill, the MMC shall be vested with the authority to arbitrate any conflict or issue arising from any ordinance or policy between and among the Metro Manila local governments.
The MMC shall also provide the mechanism to enable the local government councils, or the Sanggunian, to participate in the crafting and issuance of the Metro-wide ordinance, the measure said.
MMDA’s role
The MMDA, for its part, will formulate rules and regulations and enact ordinances to address Metro-wide problems by augmenting and harmonizing conflicting policies between and among the localities in the metropolis, the bill states.
It shall also adopt and implement ordinances and other regulations that fall within its mandates, upon the approval by a majority vote of the council.
The bill said the duly approved and ratified ordinance issued by the MMC shall be binding on all component local government units (LGUs) of Metro Manila, and shall have the full force and effect of a law therein.
The MMDA shall be the lead agency to implement any ordinance and shall be assisted by the LGUs or other enforcement agencies.
It shall also address the problems of garbage, flooding, air pollution, scarce supply of sanitary water, traffic and urban blight brought about by urban migration and population jump, without the prejudice to the autonomy of the affected LGUs.
Under the President
The bill also mandates the state to recognize and regard Metro Manila under the direct supervision of the President of the Philippines.
Republic Act 7924 declared Metropolitan Manila as a special development and administrative region comprising of cities and municipalities in the area under the direct supervision of the President of the Philippines and created the MMDA to replace the Metropolitan Manila Authority, which was constituted under and by virtue of Executive Order 392, dated January 9, 1990.
The governance board of the MMDA is the Metro Manila Council. The council is composed of the mayors of the 17 component local government units, the president of the Metro Manila Vice Mayors League and the president of the Metro Manila Councilors League.
As the policy-making body of the MMDA, the MMC approves Metro-wide plans, programs and projects, and issues the necessary rules and regulations for the implementation of said plans, approves the annual budget of the MMDA and promulgates the rules and regulations for the delivery of basic services, collection of service and regulatory fees, fines and penalties.
Review power
House Committee on Metro Manila Development Chairman Winston Castelo of Quezon City, one of the authors of HB 6973, said it has been observed that policy directions relative to land development crafted by the council are not uniformly observed.
“Thus, it is necessary to strengthen the MMDA by adding a provision authorizing the council to review development permits for residential, commercial, or industrial purposes and for other major land-development projects with Metro-wide transport and traffic impact, issued by the city and municipal governments within Metro Manila,” Castelo added.
Meanwhile, to enable the MMDA to deliver its mandated tasks, the 32 authors of the bill said a law should be passed to strengthen the MMDA by amending its charter.
The solons said this proposed law will give the MMC the power to enact ordinances, which will have the full force and effect of a law among its member-LGUs upon ratification; the power to enforce traffic laws and MMDA ordinances related to the Metro-wide programs of the agency, and the budget to modernize and upgrade its equipment and hire additional personnel to man the streets of the metropolis.
According to the lawmakers, the MMDA is mandated to lead traffic-management efforts for the whole Metro Manila, as well as to provide Metro-wide services, which are essentially services that have Metro-wide impact and transcend local political boundaries or entail huge expenditures, such that it would not be viable for said services to be provided by individual LGUs comprising Metro Manila.
It added that traffic management is at the forefront of the mandated tasks of the MMDA.
Since its creation in 1994, they said the MMDA has conceptualized, proposed and implemented all types of Metro-wide programs that has made life in this bustling metropolis easier, keeping at bay the chaos that threatens to overwhelm Metro Manila residents, be it traffic congestion, flooding, garbage, pollution and all other threats to public safety.
The legislators said the MMDA alone has the mandate, manpower, know-how, equipment, facilities, institutional culture and budget in place to combat this traffic crisis, even as it is beset by the problem caused by the inadequacy of its power to pass ordinances acceptable to the courts.
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1 comment
The solution is to create a Metropolitan government for Metro Manila with an elected Governor to administer the Metropolis.