MMDA fences and overpasses

Pink fences barricading sidewalks, hot pink and blue overpasses. This has been the thing in Metro Manila for years since Bayani Fernando became chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA). To the horrors of subsistence informal vendors and commuters alike, the right of way has become the right of the private car owners. Forget the wishes of convenience of the general riding public and the hungry and dirt-poor vendors.

Most of the implemented policies of the MMDA has been controversial. An example would be the inconvenience of walking long distances because of the barricades. Generally it's good because it creates order and discipline and promotes smooth traffic in the main thoroughfares of the metropolis. However, there should be a prescribed length from the corners or intersections so that hurrying and tired commuters won't gasp for air walking in the infamous not so clean air of the metro under the hot rays of the tropical sun. Case in point, for commuters from Commonwealth or Fairview in Quezon City going to ride the MRT train station at Quezon Ave - the jeepneys and FX taxis going to Quiapo stop at some 100 meters from the overpasses at the EDSA-Quezon Ave intersection. Commuters must walk that distance going through the overpass to reach the train station.

One can say therefore that MMDA gives rights only to the whims and the convenience of private car owners, to the detriment of the general riding public. The riding public by the way constitutes more than 98 percent in all the population of Metro Manila. This is only one example of the controversial controls the MMDA implemented. And this is one blaring example of the tyranny of the elite against the masses where it is perpetuated and even blessed by the government.