HPG extends traffic job to Ortigas, talking to La Salle about ‘parking’

THE HIGHWAY Patrol Group (HPG) of the Philippine National Police was originally tasked to untangle traffic gridlocks on six intersections or choke points on Edsa, but that job now requires extending its presence to another major thoroughfare.

HPG spokesperson Supt. Oliver Tanseco on Friday said the PNP unit had also started deploying its personnel on Ortigas Avenue, one of the major roads connecting to Edsa.

Tanseco noted that one of the main causes of traffic jams on Ortigas—and consequently at the crossing on Edsa—was the queue of vehicles at La Salle Green Hills. “We’re aware of the problem… Vehicles park there especially when students are arriving or going home. The side street is being used as parking space.”

Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, the Malacañang-designated point man for coordinating traffic-alleviation efforts in Metro Manila, had informed the PNP-HPG that he would talk first to La Salle officials, the police official said. He clarified that the HPG had yet to post men to directly manage traffic along the school’s section of Ortigas.

The school is not “untouchable” when it comes to the implementation of traffic control measures, Tanseco stressed. “It’s better if we discuss it first and it’s better if they follow because they understand our objective rather than because we forced it [on them].”

The PNP-HPG took over the traffic management of Edsa starting Sept. 7, with the civilian marshals of Metropolitan Manila Development Authority providing support.

After a week on the job, the HPG will be stricter starting Monday and issue traffic violation tickets to erring motorists, particularly drivers of private vehicles caught using lanes designated for buses, according to the HPG director, Chief Supt. Arnold Gunnacao.