San Juan City Mayor and newly-elected Metro Manila Council (MMC) President Francis Zamora said on Saturday, Nov. 26, that the council has approved the resolution allocating more than P9 billion operational budget for the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) for 2023.
During the joint session between the MMC and the Regional Development Council (RDC) which he also co-chairs, Zamora said the MMC has agreed to the P9,673,918,000 budget for MMDA's operation for the following year.
It has also approved the P100 million Supplemental Budget for a Particular Program / Activity / Projects and for Other Purposes of MMDA.
"Yan po ay hinati natin sa mga proyekto depende po sa request at pangangailangan. Tayo ay nagpa-prioritize dahil medyo naapektuhan ng pandemya yung budget, medyo nabawasan (This will be properly divided among our projects depending on the request and need. We are going to prioritize because our budget has decreased due to the Covid-19 pandemic)," MMDA Chairman Romando Artes said.
“Yung budget ng MMDA, this is the budget for calendar year 2023, pero papasok pa sa Congress so maaring magbago pa ang budget (This proposed MMDA budget is for calendar year 2023 but this will still go through Congress so it may still change),” Zamora said.
Single-ticketing system
During the session, Zamora said the MMC is eyeing to introduce a single-ticketing system in Metro Manila to ease the burden on motorists.
The project aims for a unified ticketing system with the same amount charged for penalties for several common traffic violations in all Metro Manila LGUs, with the MMDA and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) immediately tagged in the digital records to make sure drivers cannot renew their licenses or declare them lost just to evade payment.
The system also aims to make it easier for the penalties to be paid via payment centers all over the country.
"Ang ticket sa San Juan kahit umuwi sa Bicol, kahit andun siya, pwede bayaran ang multa na dapat sa San Juan (The ticket in San Juan, even if the violator is currently in Bicol, he/she may still settle the fine that should be paid in San Juan)," Zamora explained.
He added that they are also considering making the fines for traffic violations among all 17 cities in Metro Manila uniform.
“Kasi, iba iba ang aming kasalukuyang ordinansa. Iba ang multa sa iba’t ibang klaseng violations. We have to discuss sa lahat ng mayor ay sasang-ayon na halaga ng multa sa iba't ibang klaseng violations ay magiging parehas (Cities currently have different ordinances. We all have different fines for various violations. We still have to discuss this with all mayors so that we can all agree on having uniform fines among cities)," Zamora said.
The MMC said it will once again convene on Dec. 9 to discuss the two proposals because not all mayors were present during the joint session.
“We are hoping this will help us ease the traffic congestion in Metro Manila. Of course, several other steps must be undertaken for a more holistic and progressive approach to solve the traffic woes in the National Capital Region and this is where the MMC and the RDC come in,” Zamora said.