1-Pacman Party-list Rep. Mikee Romero (Facebook)

With road traffic in the metropolis already too much to bear for the common motorist, a ranking congressman has asked the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) not to impose whole-day vehicular coding amid the Christmas season.

1-Pacman Party-list Rep. Mikee Romero made this appeal in the wake of repeated pleas from MMDA Chairman Romando Artes for metro dwellers to schedule their shopping activities to ease the traffic situation.

“We have two more Christmas and New Year weekends, when roads are expected to be crowded with vehicles. Pagtiyagaan na po natin (Let’s just persevere) for the sake of tens of thousands of workers and low-income Filipinos who do not have the luxury of owning a second vehicle for coding purposes,” Romero said in a statement Friday, Dec. 22.

“Konting sakripisyo pa po. We will soon get over this,” he said.

He said by not imposing a day-long coding, the MMDA would continue to allow these vehicle owners to travel to their workplaces or do their activities using their cars during their window period, between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. and before 7 a.m. and after 8 p.m.

“This restriction on the use of motor vehicles due to worsening traffic is a shared sacrifice," noted the chairman of the House Committee on Poverty Alleviation and former deputy speaker.

"Let us not punish those who own just one car because that will translate into an advantage for those with multiple vehicles,” he said.

Romero went as far to say that the "entire vehicle use limitation scheme - is anti-poor and pro-carmaker".

“It favors only those with extra funds to buy a second or a third vehicle, and of course, the car manufacturers, who have been enjoying phenomenal growth in sales,” he explained.

Romero stressed that the car coding program “was self-defeating in the first place, as it resulted in more vehicles crowding our road network that has not commensurately expanded principally due to lack of space".

At the same time, the veteran lawmaker reminded the MMDA that vehicle owners are subjected not only to coding restriction “but to road space limitation as well".

“The innermost lane of EDSA has been designated exclusively as a busway, where the minimum fine for a violator is P5,000. The outermost lane is reserved for those using bicycles. There is also a motorcycle lane. That leaves only two to three lanes on EDSA for car owners,” he said.

He said there are similar road use curtailment rules in other areas like Quezon City and Pasig City.

“My point is, let us not add to the sacrifice and suffering of families owning just one vehicle and who cannot afford to buy another car for coding,” Romero said.