A militant labor group became the newest critic of Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chair Francis Tolentino for his alleged “failure to address the paralyzing congestion in the Metro” even after five years in his post.
In a statement on Sunday, the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) criticized the MMDA chair for his “outright incompetence, his distasteful penchant to publicize his every move to make him look competent and gross negligence of duty.”
Last week, Tolentino took a lot of flak for personally directing traffic on Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City and Edsa-Mandaluyong City. Netizens said it was all for show after it was observed that he had sent out an advisory to media.
The BMP criticized the MMDA for its failure to immediately address the heavy traffic caused by the protests of Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) members on Edsa, one of Metro Manila’s busiest thoroughfares.
According to BMP chair Leody de Guzman, traffic in Metro Manila has not improved over the past five years.
“Instead of decreasing travel time in Metro Manila from 2.17 minute per kilometer as the Philippine Development Plan indicated, it now stands at 20 minutes per kilometer,” De Guzman noted, adding that Tolentino enjoys a high salary while his agency has an annual budget which comes from the pockets of taxpayers.
“Yet this is the sort of service we get. We deserve better, we want our money’s worth,” the labor leader added.
The BMP statement came more than a week after an online petition called for Tolentino’s resignation. Posted on the online campaign website Change.org on Aug. 20, the petition titled “Resign Chairman Francis Tolentino” was started by labor group Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK).
PSLINK described itself as a “champion of human rights, advocate for social justice and promoter of universal access to quality public services” with a membership of 85,000 public workers.
In the petition, PSLINK highlighted the “unending traffic problem” along main Metro thoroughfares and blamed it on the MMDA.
“It is now 2015 and MMDA still has no concrete solution to our traffic woes and misery. In fact, our traffic problems have worsened,” the petition read, adding that it takes a commuter two hours to travel from Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City to Makati City, a 15-kilometer trip which used to take just 30 minutes. As of Sunday, the petition has earned more than 5,400 signatures.
Responding to all these criticisms, Tolentino, who is rumored to be eyeing a Senate seat, said during the agency’s Sunday radio program that the MMDA was able to come up with alternative routes to solve the traffic problem brought about by INC protests on Edsa.
“As of now, we have observed that there is already order and discipline among INC participants and we expect them to maintain this kind of attitude during their gathering,” he stated.
According to him, the MMDA met with officials of Mandaluyong and Quezon City, the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the National Capital Region Police Office to discuss traffic management in Shaw Boulevard.
Tolentino earlier said that he would not resign from his post as he called on the public to help him solve the traffic problem in the metropolis.