DUE to the anticipated week-long transport strike, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has lifted the implementation of the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) or the expanded number coding scheme on Monday, March 6.

An inter-agency meeting was held on Sunday at the MMDA headquarters in Makati City to finalize the emergency plans, prepositioning of assets and transport routes that will be affected by the strike.

“The UVVRP suspension is for Monday only. We will assess if there is a need to suspend the number coding scheme on the succeeding days, depending on the gravity of the transport strike,” said MMDA General Manager Usec. Procopio Lipana, who is also the head of the Inter-Agency Task Force Monitoring Team secretariat.

Around 1,200 vehicles will be dispatched by the local government units in the National Capital Region to help ferry stranded commuters.

Present during the inter-agency meeting are Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Hubert Guevarra, PNP-NCRPO Operations Officer PCol. Roman Arugay as well as representatives from concerned government agencies.

On Saturday, MMDA Acting Chairman Atty. Don Artes mentioned that 25 ‘Libreng Sakay’ vehicles will be deployed by the agency during the duration of the transport strike – including 4 air-conditioned buses, 2 non-air-conditioned buses, and 13 commuter vans – which can carry around 1,200 passengers per trip.

Also, the MMDA will deploy more than 2,000 personnel to monitor situations on the ground. They are tasked to give immediate feedback and reports as to areas where there are stranded commuters.

The one-week transport strike will be staged by various transport groups including Manibela and Piston to protest the government’s Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) Modernization Program.

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Edd Reyes