MMDA chief lobbies Congress for traffic aides’ hazard pay

MMDA traffic constables can forget about going on leave as it’s all hands on deck in the four days leading to Christmas Day. —RAFFY LERMA

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is asking Congress to pass a law providing a monthly hazard pay of P6,000 to its traffic constables. According to MMDA chair Danilo Lim, the additional incentive will not only raise their take-home pay but also curb corruption among their ranks. Lim told reporters on Monday that he raised the matter in a recent meeting with House members. At present, an entry level traffic enforcer gets close to P11,000 a month but takes home just around P6,000, Lim said. “How can you motivate people if their stomachs are grumbling?” he asked. In 2013, Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo proposed a hazard pay and accident insurance coverage for the agency’s traffic enforcers. The following year, then Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and former Abante Mindanao party-list Rep. Maximo Rodriguez also filed a bill seeking to give MMDA traffic men and street sweepers a P2,000 hazard pay. Both bills, however, languished in the House of Representatives. —Jovic Yee