Senatorial candidate Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar urged the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to discuss the confusion on the window hours scheme with bus operators in order to finally come up with a solution to address the transportation of thousands of commuters coming from and going to the provinces.

This, as both the MMDA and the LTFRB were criticized for the confusion brought by the policy of barring provincial buses from entering Metro Manila outside the 10 p.m. - 5 a.m. window hours which was implemented to address the traffic woes in major thoroughfares in the National Capital Region, especially along EDSA.

Bus companies thought that this would mean they would only be allowed to ply their routes between the said window hours.

“I think this is a product of misunderstanding, a misunderstanding that is costly because it affected hundreds of commuters,” said Eleazar.

The LTFRB clarified the window hour scheme only refers to the use of private terminals on EDSA which is often blamed for the traffic buildup in the area.

Provincial buses will still be allowed to operate beyond the window hours but they will be required to drop off their passengers at designated terminal exchanges such as the Paranaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) for buses coming from the south and North Luzon Express Terminal (NLET) for those coming from the north.

“Instead of engaging in a blame game, it would be better if they would open their line of communication and meet again to discuss solutions. This is a mature way dealing with it" said Eleazar.

He explained that the more the blame game is highlighted in the media, the more the government agencies are being put in a bad light because this is not what the people are expecting them to do.

"The linger they do not come up with the solution, the more inconvenience it would bring to the commuters," said Eleazar.