It is not only actress Maria Isabel Lopez who is in hot water these days but also the car owners who followed her in disregarding the traffic measures being implemented by the government for the 31st ASEAN Summit.
In a press conference held earlier in Pasay City, ASEAN Technical Working Group on Traffic Management Chairperson Emmanuel Miro of the MMDA said they are also carefully reviewing the CCTV footages to identify the plate numbers of vehicles who tailgated Lopez when she used the ASEAN lane.
“Hindi lang siya ang mapuputukan dito kung hindi pati ang mga iba pang gumaya sa kanya sa pagsuway sa batas trapiko,”said Miro.
In her social media post, Lopez bragged about removing the ‘divider cones’ or traffic barriers put in place for the smooth flow of traffic and to “reserve” priority lanes for the ASEAN delegates. She also mentioned that several cars followed her lead.
According to Miro, MMDA’s legal team is now meeting on what measures are to be taken against the actress for her sheer defiance of the traffic measures for the 31st ASEAN Summit.
“We are carrying out these traffic measures not out of our own whim and caprices, but to ensure the security of the delegates who are the country’s guests,”he said.
Miro also said they are also studying if disciplinary actions should be meted out on the MMDA personnel who are assigned to man the concerned ASEAN lanes.
Meanwhile, he said that as some of the ASEAN leaders will be leaving the country by tomorrow, the MMDA has deployed additional personnel at the northbound lanes of EDSA to reinforce the ASEAN lanes.
“We again appeal for the public’s kind understanding and support for whatever inconvenience this may cause you. Please bear with us for the next few days,”he said.
The MMDA is one of the member agencies of the ASEAN Committee on Security, Peace and Order, and Emergency Preparedness and Response (CSPOEPR) which is headed by the DILG. | DILG-PR
