Seemingly fed up with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua called for the abolition of the nearly five-decade-old agency on Monday, Feb. 27.

Chua, a vice chairman of the House Committee on Metro Manila Development, made the call in a privilege speech during Monday's plenary session.

According to the former Manila councilor-turned-congressman, the MMDA has encroached upon the jurisdiction of local government units (LGUs) and national government agencies, violated the Local Government Code, and duplicated the roles of national agencies.

He further said the MMDA has become a bloated bureaucracy, and wasted billions in public funds from unimplemented projects.

While Chua wants to see the MMDA dismantled, he said the Metro Manila Council (MMC), which is composed of the 17 mayors of Metro Manila or the National Capital Region (NCR), should remain.

He said the members of the MMC are all elected officials--something that cannot be said of MMDA officials. The MMC is the policy-making body of the agency.

Chua further said that the abolition of the MMDA would align with the Marcos administration's National Government Rightsizing Program.

"Panggulo sa buhay ng mga residente at mga negosyo sa Metro Manila ang MMDA. Tama lang na wakasan na sa lalong-madaling panahon ang panggugulo ng MMDA sa mga pamahalaang lokal ng NCR (The MMDA is disruptive to the lives of residents and businesses. It's only right to quickly end the MMDA's disruption to the local governments in the NCR)," Chua said.

"Patunay nito ang mga madalas na demolition, sidewalk clearing, at towing operations ng MMDA na wala man lang koordinasyon sa barangay, city hall, munisipyo, at kapulisan (Proof of this are the demolitions, sidewalk clearings, and towing operations that the MMDA usually does without even coordinating with the barangay, city hall, municipality, or police)," he added.

The MMDA was created on Nov. 5, 1975 during the administration of the late former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Marcos Sr.'s son, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., is the current president.

Chua also noted how the MMDA bureaucracy has grown from only 6,812 in 2011 to 9,767 in 2021. He said that its total annual budget of about P10 billion from the General Appropriations Act (GAA) and local sources is much larger than most budgets of national departments.

But the Manila solon's main gripe about the MMDA is its exercise of police power, which he described as redundant. He also underscored that the Supreme Court (SC) had long settled that the agency neither had legislative power nor police power.

He further said that MMDA’s roles and functions should be farmed out to the other national government agencies and the LGUs within NCR.

These functions include transport and traffic management; solid waste disposal and management, sanitation, pollution control and flood control; development planning; urban renewal, zoning, and land use planning; public health; and public safety.