Sunday, December 13, 2020

Solve NLEX traffic mess, DILG Chief urges execs. Inquirer Newsletter. December 14, 2020

HARD AND FAST RULE A policeman on Sunday holds up a placard reminding the crush of holiday shoppers in Divisoria, Manila, about keeping physical distancing. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

Board Talk

Added too much to your cart? Time to call the Keepr

The holidays are in full swing, and while most of us are unable to reunite with loved ones because of the pandemic, distancing hasn’t stopped people from spreading Christmas joy through gifts. After all, it’s so easy to “add to cart”—but what happens after, when items start piling up, and you’re working with limited storage space inside your homes? —STORY BY Annelle Tayao-Juego

News

UN chief urges state leaders to declare climate emergency

LONDON—UN chief Antonio Guterres has called on governments to declare a “state of climate emergency” and make good on their promises to slash carbon pollution as they recover from the pandemic. —AFP

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Solve NLEX traffic mess, DILG Chief urges execs

By Jeannette I. Andrade

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Sunday urged local officials of Valenzuela City and executives of the tollway operator on the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) to talk and find a fix to the monstrous vehicular congestion on the turnpike caused by the introduction of electronic toll collection.

In a radio interview, Año said the local government and NLEx Corp. should have planned together the shift from cash payment at the toll booths to avoid inconvenience to the public.

“Our local chief executives and local government[s] have a mandate to protect public interest, welfare and safety. So they exercise that if their constituents are affected,” Año said, indicating support for Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian’s decision to suspend NLEx Corp.’s business permit on Dec. 7, which threw the toll gates open, allowing free flow of vehicular traffic.

‘Toll holiday’

The city government also declared a “toll holiday,” stopping NLEx Corp.’s collection at the booths.

For years, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) had been trying to modernize toll collection on the expressways, but the system had never been perfected. But when toll collectors caught the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the DOTr made the shift to electronic toll collection mandatory starting Dec. 1 even though the tollway operators did not have failproof systems.

The result had been kilometerslong tailbacks on the expressways as radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and sensors failed to work. In Valenzuela, Año said “Earth stopped” as the tie-ups halted commerce on the toll road that runs through the city center.

“They (the local government and NLEx Corp.) should sit down, talk, and find a common solution instead of just imposing what they want when it would really affect ordinary citizens,” he said. --WITH REPORTS FROM KRIXIA SUBINGSUBING AND MEG ADONIS INQ

Editorial

Prioritize the poor

One tragic consequence of the economic crunch caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is that the poor and those barely above the poverty line are and will be most affected. The World Bank has estimated that the health crisis will make 2.7 million more Filipinos poor this year as a result of a record decline in the Philippines’ economic output as measured by the gross domestic product (GDP).

Read full story: opinion.inquirer.net