Public servants should ‘always feel guilty’ about traffic, long lines — MMDA official

Traffic congestion along Edsa. EDWIN BACASMAS/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

A top official of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said government officials should “leave” the service if they fail to provide solutions that would help alleviate traffic and ease commuter woes.

MMDA general manager Tim Orbos pointed out that government officials “need to always feel guilty” whenever there are long queues of people trying to catch a ride home for hours.

“[I]t is our responsibility to keep on trying to look for a solution and not [to] turn a blind eye to the problem staring at us. Otherwise, let’s leave government and let those with more dedication and fortitude take our place,” Orbos said on Thursday in his Facebook post which was accompanied by a photo of a long queue of commuters near a mall in Ortigas, Pasig City.

He noted that people who use public transportation often spend at least three hours every day just to get back to their families, while motorists find themselves stuck on traffic for at most two hours.

For nine months, Orbos served as the MMDA’s officer in charge. During his stint, he introduced such congestion-easing measures like the expanded no window hour policy, light truck ban, and the clearing of Baclaran as well as Old Samson Road in Balintawak.

Orbos said that given the work needed to be done to ease congestion, they in the government should not be “complacent” and “relaxed.”

Earlier, the Department of Transportation called on the public for patience as it embarks on a number of infrastructure projects to solve commuter woes. Among the projects in the pipeline are the extension of the Light Rail Transit 2 extension, and the construction of the country’s first subway system and bus rapid transit system.

But before these mass transport solutions become operational, MMDA Chair Danilo Lim had said he would implement a “back-to-basic” approach to solve the traffic problem by strictly enforcing rules and regulations, and weeding out corruption in the agency. KS