MANILA, Philippines—Two Senate leaders thumbed down on Tuesday the proposal to ban private cars on Edsa during rush hours, one even calling it a “crazy idea.”
The proposal was raised Monday by Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice, vice chair of the House committee on Metro Manila development.
READ: Lawmaker: Why not keep private vehicles off Edsa?
“It’s not a well-thought out idea,” Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said in a text message.
“He says dagdagan ang buses during that time, then where do you dump the thousands of buses that ply after 9 a.m.?” the Senate president said.
Erice’s suggestion was aiming to prohibit on Edsa all private vehicles from 6 to 9 a.m. and from 6 to 9 p.m.
But Sotto believes that his original suggestion is still the best: No parking in the entire Metro Manila streets from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.
“Then cars need not pass Edsa,” he pointed out.
Erice’s proposal did not also sit well with Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto.
“It’s a crazy idea. But people are free to suggest. I don’t take those seriously,” Recto said in another text message.
“Private car owners pay a lot of taxes. Excise, Vat (value added tax), duties, road users tax on vehicles and excise, vat on petroleum. Hundreds of billions a year,” he added.
Unlike the two leaders, Senator Joel Villanueva was open to Erice’s proposal.
Villanueva expressed hope though that the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority would come up with a list of options and their corresponding consequences.
“Meanwhile, why not act on the walkway through Edsa? I wonder what happened to the initial budget we gave them,” he said. /jpv