MMDA recruits volunteers to help out traffic aides

BOODLE BONDING Newly appointed Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chair Thomas Orbos gets to know his men during a boodle fight at the agency’s Makati City headquarters. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

Starting on Friday, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will deploy traffic volunteers to augment the agency’s undermanned personnel assigned to direct vehicular flow on major roads, particularly in Quezon City.

Of the 500 traffic volunteers drafted by the agency, an initial 56 would be assigned on Quezon Avenue, MMDA officer in charge and general manager Tim Orbos said on Monday.

The volunteers from private organizations Civil Defense Action Group (CDAG) and Pureforce and Rescue Corp. underwent a three-day training on traffic management last week.

Although deputized by the MMDA, not all of them would be able to issue citation tickets to motorists as they would first have to undergo an examination, Orbos said.

The volunteers would be deployed in four-hour shifts every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, he added, noting that these were the days the MMDA was in need of additional personnel, especially during weekends when the number coding scheme was not in effect.

In their first few days on the job, the volunteers will be joined and assisted by MMDA enforcers until they become familiar with their tasks.

Currently, the MMDA has only 2,368 traffic enforcers spread throughout Metro Manila’s road network of 197 kilometers. Orbos earlier said that ideally, there should be 7,000 traffic enforcers to manage the more than 1,000 main intersections in the metropolis.

The tie-up between the MMDA and the volunteer groups was made possible through a memorandum of agreement signed on Monday.

Johnny Yu, CDAG chair, said the volunteers from their group, who are all trained to respond to emergency situations, were chosen based on their willingness to help the MMDA. –Jovic Yee