By Raymond Carl Dela Cruz/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — Days after Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Edsa Special Traffic and Transport Zone head Edison “Bong” Nebrija’s altercation with passengers of a bus his enforcers held for a lane violation, an MMDA official on Thursday said their traffic enforcers are just doing their jobs and should not be blamed.
In a press conference at the MMDA Central Office in Makati City, MMDA general manager Jose Arturo “Jojo” Garcia lauded Nebrija and their other enforcers for standing up for the agency even after being yelled and cursed at by bus passengers.
“Unang una bilib talaga ako kay Bong sa pasensiya. Ginagawa mo ‘yung tungkulin mo pinagmumura ka. Sakin lang po mga kababayan, wag naman po ganun, wag niyo naman po kami pagmumurahin (First of all, I’m impressed with Bong for his patience. You’re just doing your job then you get cursed. I ask our fellow countrymen, don’t abuse us),” Garcia said.
He added the MMDA understands why the passengers were irate, adding that the blame for the delay experienced by passengers of the bus rests on the shoulders of the driver for not following traffic rules.
“Of course, naiintindihan naman natin ang mga tao. Nag-iinit ang ulo niyan, traffic, nagmamadali. Kaya lang isipin niyo kasi ang sinakyan niyong bus, pasaway. Kung hindi po pasaway ang driver na ‘yan, hindi po mangyayari yan. Wag niyong isisi sa nage-enforce ng batas (we understand the people. They were stressed, it was traffic and they were trying to hurry. But they should think about the bus they rode; the driver broke the law. If the driver was not disobedient, it wouldn’t have happened. Don’t blame the enforcers of the law),” he said.
Nebrija said he initially went towards his enforcers, who stopped the bus to correct them for failing to follow their plans when his enforcers complained of being yelled and cursed at by the bus passengers.
“I was trying to correct dahil hindi nila sinusunod lahat ng napag-usapan namin. Tapos yun nga nag-rason sila na minumura po kami, sinisigawan kami ng mga pasahero and that’s the time na I overheard na minumura saka sinisigawan na kaming lahat dun (they were not following what we planned. Then they reasoned it was because they were being cursed, yelled at by the passengers and that’s the time I overheard they were cursing and yelling at all of us),” Nebrija said.
“I just don’t know what was going on their minds, actually na sila pa yung nagagalit sa amin kami na nga nagpapatupad ng batas (they were angry at us when it was us who were enforcing the law),” he added.
On Tuesday, a viral video circulated wherein Nebrija and other enforcers were seen being cursed and yelled at by irate passengers of a bus they apprehended.
Nebrija argued with some of the passengers after they told him they were paying his salary and countered that they should be thankful he is doing his job and is serving the taxpaying public.
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