MMDA apologizes to Revilla, conducts probe into how the senator was tagged in illegal use of EDSA Bus Lane
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has apologized to Sen. Ramon Revilla, Jr. after his name was dragged into the controversy amid the strict implementation of a policy that prohibits unauthorized vehicles to travel along the EDSA Bus Lane.
In a statement, the MMDA said it is now investigating how the Revilla’s name cropped up when its enforcers flagged down a vehicle that illegally used the EDSA Bus Lane on Wednesday morning, Nov. 15.
“Based on our CCTV footage, the license plate of the flagged down vehicle is protocol plate, and we are probing why the name of the Senator was being involved,” the statement read.
“Likewise, the agency wanted to extend our apologies to the Senator pending the investigation,” it added.
Revilla earlier denied that he owns the vehicle that was flagged down along EDSA Bus Lane, adding that he does not regularly travel along EDSA.
“There is absolutely no truth to the malicious report that I was apprehended using the EDSA carousel busway,” he said in a separate statement.
“My daily commute is from the south to the Senate and there is no possibility I will be on EDSA in Mandaluyong. When attending to official functions in the north, I take the skyway from and back to the south,” he added.
More than 11,000 motorists were apprehended from January to Nov. 10 this year for illegally using the EDSA Bus Lane which prompted the MMDA to approve a resolution that increases the penalty for its unauthorized use.
More than 400 motorists were apprehended on the first day of the implementation of higher penalties on Nov. 13., with hundreds apprehended in the next two days.
“We would like to reiterate that only authorized vehicles allowed to utilize the EDSA Bus Carousel lane are: public utility buses, emergency vehicles, and clearly-marked government vehicles responding to emergencies,” the MMDA said.