Sangil: A letter in 2015

HEAVY traffic? Gridlock? Bumper to bumper situation? Situation, we as motorist, do experience each time we travel from one point to another. I am not even talking here about Edsa, but in almost all roads in every urban areas. In this article, let's make Angeles City a case in point. I wish to get back in March 2015 when I was still a member of Angeles City Council and I prepared a letter to my friend Jep who was then the "traffic Czar."

Atty. Josep Jepri Miranda

OIC, ACTEMO

Angeles City

Sir:

As per instruction of the Members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod held last March 3, 2015 Regular Session, the following are the initial concerns that your office needs to comment during the Sangguniang Panlungsod Regular Session on March 10, 2015:

1. Was there a proper and sufficient dissemination and information regarding the implementation of the towing of motor vehicles?

2. Is the charge for recovery of towed vehicles consistent with Ordinance No. 307, Series of 2012?

3. Where is the impounding area for towed vehicles?

4. Was the implementation of the towing vehicles deliberated and approved by the Angeles City Traffic Management Board and duly reviewed by the Sangguniang Panlungsod?

5. Who are the accredited towing entities and how were they accredited?

6. What are the traffic policy that are being currently implemented?

7. Regarding the implementation of parallel parking, where is it applied? Is it from the stretch of MacArthur Highway from the boundary of Mabalacat or up to Sto. Domingo on the boundary of Angeles and San Fernando?

8. What is the basis of the implementation of parallel parking? Is it by local ordinance or national law?

9. How many towed vehicles were made from the start of the implementation of this towing motor vehicles and from this number, how many are private vehicles and how many are public vehicles?

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FAST FORWARD: In several roads, primary and secondary we find so many vehicles parked on both sides of the road thus we see constricted roads. A four lane road reduced to two lanes because of these parked cars. We can see that along the MacArthur stretch and on the Friendship Highway particularly in the Korean town area.

Angeles City Mayor Carmelo Lazatin Jr. is also pissed off just like you and me on what the inherited problem. Last Monday he related to me what efforts he is making to address the problem. He commissioned some of those who conducted studies of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority's traffic problems. He had sought the help of Pampanga Vice Governor Nanay Baby Pineda to invite mayors of San Fernando, Mabalacat, Porac and officials of Clark Development Corporation to tackle the problems.

Lazatin explained that jams occurring in the boundaries of these places which envelopes Angeles, say those gridlocks in Dau, Telebastagan and In Sta. Cruz, Porac adversely affect traffic movement in Angeles City.

"A council type of summit can be a good start in looking way to address the traffic problems," Lazatin said.