When they take over as traffic marshals on Edsa starting Monday, members of the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) won’t have enough time or opportunity to engage in extortion activities, their chief said Friday.
Two days before their deployment on the country’s busiest highway, guidelines were issued to deter abuses among HPG members amid concerns from motorists.
HPG director Chief Supt. Arnold Gunnacao said the HPG would strictly enforce the “30-second rule” to minimize interaction between law enforcer and erring motorist—and thus discourage bribery.
“They will flag down [the violator], they will ask for the license, they will issue a ticket. That’s all that will be said,” he explained. “After that, they can go. There will no longer be any lengthy discussions that can [lead to] negotiations,” Gunnacao said.
“We have prepared for such concerns. First of all, I got the commitment from our police that they will only enforce the laws that they need to and just do the job asked of them,” Gunnacao told reporters at Camp Crame.
They will also be subject to rotation every three days or one week to prevent law enforcers and motorists from becoming familiar with each another “because that’s where negotiations and extortion can start,” he added.
But the anti-extortion warning also applies to the driver, he said. “Please remember that the orders of the PNP chief and the President include the arrest of those who will bribe (the police]. That will only add to their offense (the traffic violation committed),” Gunnacao said, noting that bribery carries a prison term of six to 12 years.
Also on Friday, officials also announced a traffic rerouting scheme for buses to coincide with the HPG deployment.
More than 100 provincial buses that regularly use the southbound lanes of Edsa in the morning rush hour must now turn left at P. Tuazon Boulevard in Quezon City and out to C-5 Road (at Quirino Memorial Medical Center) for them to reach South Luzon Expressway.
This rerouting scheme will be enforced 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. on weekdays, said Roberto Cabrera, executive director of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board. “There will be no more reason for them to pass through the whole stretch of Edsa,” he added.
Alex Yague, president of the Provincial Operators Association of the Philippines, said the buses to be affected by the scheme are mostly from Jacliner, DLTB, Alps, Raymond and
Superlines which have terminals in Kamias and Cubao and with routes going to Laguna and Batangas provinces or the Bicol and Visayas regions.