MMDA hires 1,000 traffic enforcers, offers early retirement to seniors

Traffic enforcers of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) monitor vehicles along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) on Wednesday, August 15, 2018.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — Some 1,000 traffic enforcers were hired while those who are senior citizens were offered early retirement, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chief said on Monday.

MMDA chairman Benhur Abalos Jr. said they hired more traffic enforcers because they were understaffed, as “one fourth” of their older employees were put under “work from home” arrangement due to COVID-19.

“Nung pagka-upo ko nung Enero, nagulat ako ang daming senior citizens, talagang halos one-fourth, work from home,” Abalos said in a Teleradyo interview. “Mahirap naman yung wala tayong tao. Kaya ang ginawa ko kaagad ay nag-hire kami isang libo.”

(When I assumed the seat in January, I was surprised when I discovered there were so many senior traffic enforcers, about one-fourth, and they were in a from home [arrangement]. It’s hard when we only have few staff members, so what I did was to hire one thousand enforcers immediately.)

Before hiring 1,000 new enforcers, MMDA had 2,187 traffic enforcers, 25 percent of whom are senior citizens, according to the agency’s data.

Abalos  said MMDA also offered early retirement to its senior traffic enforcers and asked them to recruit their relatives instead.

“Tapos yung mga work from home sinabi ko, kung gusto niyo mag-retire nang maaga kunin na lang natin anak niyo, para walang economic impact ba,” Abalos said.

(Then to those those who ‘work from home,’ I told them that if they want to retire early, we could recruit their children instead, to mitigate economic impact.)

“Ayoko naman masira ang kanilang kita dahil mahirap ang trabaho ngayon, so sabi ko na lang, anak niyo na lang, pamangkin niyo, kung sinong kamag-anak niyo ipalit niyo.”

(I don’t want to affect their earnings because jobs are hard to come by nowadays, so I just told them, just recruit your children, nephews, or any relatives as your replacement.)

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