Manning problem areas on Edsa will be the Philippine National Police’s “defining moment,” according to the leader of the 160,000-strong police force.
Early Monday, PNP chief Director General Ricardo Marquez urged Highway Patrol Group (HPG) cops to consider managing Metro Manila’s busiest highway their “opportunity to shine the brightest.”
Wearing boots, western hats, and reflectorized vests, 96 HPG officers earnestly listened to the PNP chief give a pep talk before they started assisting traffic on six “chokepoints” of Edsa.
“Let this day be the beginning. Let this day be another important milestone in the history of the HPG and in the records of the PNP and in the pages of Philippine history. This is one of the best opportunities to shine the brightest … This will be our defining moment,” Marquez told them.
Marquez reiterated his call to the police officers to maintain their integrity by not extorting from motorists who will be violating traffic rules. Critics and members of transportation sector expressed fear that sending cops to Edsa would mean the return of “kotong (extortion) cops.”
“Show our countrymen. Show the world the kind of personnel that you are. I trust in your competence. I trust in your integrity and professionalism. Do your job and I will be there for you. Show them your best side,” said Marquez.
PNP’s ‘best side’
The PNP chief said that on Sunday, an “excited” Interior Secretary Mar Roxas dropped by his official residence in Camp Crame, the so-called White House, and brought up to him the responsibility the President gave to the HPG.
PHOTO by JULLIANE LOVE DE JESUS/INQUIRER.net
“He dropped by the White House para iparating ang kanyang excitement as this is our opportunity to show our best side,” he said. “But at the same time, to expose our vulnerability.”
Marquez then relayed to the cops the secretary’s message for them.
“Pinapasabi niya, gawin natin kung anong pinakamagandang gawin natin. Let Edsa be a show window of discipline,” he said.
Chokepoints
Shortly before 5 a.m, Marquez led the send-off of the HPG cops to six different areas in Edsa, including Balintawak in Caloocan City, Cubao in Quezon City, Ortigas Avenue in Pasig City, Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City, Guadalupe in Makati City and Taft Avenue in Pasay City.
Personnel from the HPG were then joined by officers from National Capital Region Police Office on the chokepoints.
As policemen left the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, Marquez said that from the original deployment of 96 personnel, the PNP decided to add 54 more officers.
In each chokepoint, Marquez said deployment of officers would vary. “There are areas like in Balintawak and Pasay Rotonda that, compared to Ortigas, hindi ganoon kalala ang traffic. The deployment will depend on the gravity of the problem of the chokepoints.”
In an interview while assisting traffic on Edsa, HPG director Chief Superintendent Arnold Gunnacao said they would be working in shifts as they are expected to assist traffic from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
For the first shift, which is from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m., 96 personnel were fielded on the chokepoints. The second batch of officers will start in the afternoon at 2 p.m. until 11 p.m.
In Balintawak
On Edsa-Balintawak, where almost half of the southbound lane has been occupied by vendors and littered with trash, street sweepers and garbage collectors went to work as cops from HPG and Quezon City Police District started directing the traffic.
Within an hour, Balintawak’s occupied lane was freed of garbage and parked vehicles.
Edsa-Balintawak in Quezon City is one of the chokepoints of Edsa considered the most problematic due to frequent heavy traffic in the area.
“Ang problema po sa Balintawak market ay kung saan nila ibababa mga kargamento nila. Ang
Edsa ay para sa mga motorista. Dapat mawala mga nakaharang sa Edsa. Dapat may tamang lugar sa palengke kung san ibaba ang mga kalakal,” Gunnacao told reporters.
Superintendent Ely Pintang, chief of the Quezon City Police District Traffic Enforcement Unit, said the usual causes of traffic congestion were vehicles unloading market goods and sidewalk vendors taking over lanes of Edsa-Balintawak.
Patrolling cops also prohibited public utility vehicles from unloading passengers along Edsa-Balintawak. At one point, a QCPD traffic officer flagged down and warned a taxi that attempted to unload passengers in front of the market.
All throughout Monday morning, traffic was light on both lanes of Balintawak. Julliane Love de Jesus / CB