MMDA: More enforcers on the road for holiday season

As the holiday rush draws near, don't be surprised if you see more traffic enforcers out late into the night after doing your Christmas shopping.

With malls and other shopping centers adjusting their operating hours for the Christmas season, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) says their Traffic Discipline Office personnel will be deployed until 12 midnight to manage traffic in the major thoroughfares of Metro Manila.

According to MMDA Acting Chairman Atty. Romando Artes, traffic enforcers have also been instructed to exercise lenience on motorists, and minimize apprehension of simple and light traffic violations to avoid impeding traffic flow, especially in very minor cases of swerving and late lane changes.

However, the MMDA acting chairman said it will still fall under a case-to-case basis, and violators of number-coding and distracted driving will still be strictly apprehended.

“Our primary duty and priority is to manage traffic first before apprehending erring motorists. We don’t allow the practice of waiting for motorists to violate traffic rules before flagging them down" said Artes.

This is part of the agency's plan to mitigate traffic in the metro together with the aforementioned adjustment of mall hours and the suspension of road reblocking, pipe laying, and other construction activities along major roads in Metro Manila.