By Trisha Casabar
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said the government is prepared for the three-day transport strike set to begin on the second State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on July 24.
According to the Inter-Agency Task Force Monitoring Team, contingency measures are in place to assist commuters who will be affected by the strike, including the dispatching of rescue vehicles to ferry passengers.
“We request the LGUs [local government units] to cooperate with the single dispatching system of the rescue assets at the MMDA Command Center on the day itself,” Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Hubert Guevara said.
“During the last transport strike, we were able to monitor through the CCTV [closed circuit television] cameras the convergence of rallyists, and can easily call the PNP [Philippine National Police] to maintain peace and order,” he added.
Undersecretary Procopio Lipana, MMDA general manager, said there will be a centralized system for dispatching rescue units.
This is to ensure that other transportation groups and drivers who are not participating in the strike can continue their regular services.
Meanwhile, MMDA acting chairperson Atty. Don Artes said “the team is also more than prepared because of the best practices and lessons learned from the previous transport strike held in March.”
The MMDA has prepared an inventory of assets, which will serve as the grounds for allocating rescue vehicles that will be dispatched on the start of the transport strike. –ag
