Police, security outposts next to go in road cleanup

SIDEWALK OBSTRUCTION Metro police chief, Police Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar (center), supervises the demolition of a police precinct in Barangay Tinajeros, Malabon City, on Thursday. The precinct started as a barangay outpost 15 years ago, according to barangay chair Ryan Geronimo. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

After targeting sidewalk vendors, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) next demolished several police and security outposts blocking sidewalks in Pasig City and Pateros on Thursday.

The clearing operations were the second since Monday, when the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) signed Memorandum Circular No. 2019-121 ordering all mayors to remove road obstructions within 60 days in their areas to ease traffic flow or face sanctions.

In coordination with officials from the MMDA and DILG, Mayors Vico Sotto and Miguel Ponce of Pasig City and Pateros, respectively, oversaw the demolition of security outposts and the towing of illegally parked vehicles in their areas.

In a tweet afterward, Sotto said it was even more crucial to remove city-built obstructions if mayors were serious about meeting the deadline given to them to reclaim all public roads.

Moral ascendancy

“How are we going to have the moral ascendancy to tell our constituents not to build structures obstructing the roads when local governments themselves do it?” he noted.

During Thursday’s operations, officials also discovered an illegal terminal operating near the drive-through of a fast-food restaurant in Barangay San Joaquin, Pasig City.

Sotto said he instructed the city’s traffic and parking management office to identify a possible location for a permanent transport terminal for the convenience of commuters.

Ponce also called on sidewalk vendors and car owners in his municipality to observe President Duterte’s directive against blocking roads.

“Don’t wait for the MMDA or the DILG’s clearing operations anymore,” he said.

In Malabon City, a police precinct was also torn down after it was deemed a sidewalk obstruction.

High-ranking officials from the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) and Northern Police District (NPD) demolished the Community Police Assistance Center (Compact) on M.H. del Pilar in Barangay Tinajeros.

The one-story structure had a complaints desk, a restroom, kitchen and locker room.

Police Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, the NCRPO director, led the demolition. He said that four policemen were detailed at the Compact.

Public to benefit

“There is a need to demolish [the] said infrastructure for the benefit of the public, to make the [road] free from obstruction,” Eleazar said. “It is also a practical solution for addressing traffic congestion and a key [to] achieving faster movement in traffic.”

Police Brig. Gen. Rolando Anduyan, the NPD director, and Police Col. Jessie Tamayao, the Malabon police chief, were also present.