MMDA lifts number coding, truck ban for ‘Yolanda’ aid

Food trucks wait in a long line of vehicles carrying relief to Samar and Leyte provinces. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—To speed up the delivery of relief supplies from Metro Manila to the typhoon-battered Visayas region, trucks going to and from “Yolanda” relief centers have been exempted from number coding and the truck ban.

In a memorandum issued on Nov. 14, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chair Francis Tolentino said all heavy vehicles delivering relief goods and materials to identified repacking centers have been exempted from the two road regulations until Nov. 30.

In his memorandum, Tolentino specified relief centers run by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, such as the main DSWD National Resource Operations Center along NAIA road in Pasay, the Ninoy Aquino stadium on M. Adriatico street in Manila, and at the Air 21 warehouse along the old MIA road in Paranaque city.

In a phone interview, MMDA general manager Cora Jimenez confirmed that trucks carrying relief supplies to or from repacking areas, or to or from shipyards and airports, may be exempted from the road regulations, including the total truck ban on Edsa.

But “they have to coordinate with the office of [the MMDA] chairman for stickers that show they are exempted,” Jimenez warned, expressing apprehension that the exemption may be abused by unscrupulous drivers.

Under the current modified regulation, trucks weighing more than 4,500 kilograms, except those delivering perishable goods, are banned from major thoroughfares from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., everyday except Sundays and holidays. A total truck ban is also imposed on Edsa, from Magallanes in Makati city to North Avenue in Quezon city.

Meanwhile, Makati City will forgo “a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,” in sympathy of victims and survivors of “supertyphoon Yolanda” (international name Haiyan).

On Monday, Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin S. Binay announced the cancellation of city government Christmas parties, and its annual New Year’s Eve Countdown.

“I hope our constituents and employees are one with us in our decision to cancel the said events. Everyone must understand that it is not fair to rejoice while many of our kababayans are still grieving and trying to cope with the grim aftermath of typhoon Yolanda,” Binay said, in a press statement.

The street party countdown at Ayala Avenue, with its fireworks display and free concert, has been a major tourist attraction in the city since it started being held in 2004.

It has only been cancelled three times previously: in 2010, in the aftermath of the Barangay Bangkal West Tower oil leak, in 2009 after typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng,” and as an austerity measure in 2005.

The city government has also issued a memorandum on Monday, urging city hall employees to donate, or volunteer in the ongoing relief operations at the Poblacion Covered Court.

Some 54,000 packs of relief goods are ready for deployment to Visayas, to add to the 13,200 packs dispatched to Leyte province on Friday.

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