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Acting Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairperson Romando Artes has, since March, been stating that “only 1,586 cyclists” traverse the major thoroughfare EDSA on a daily basis.

He has used this figure to justify the MMDA’s opposition to proposals to widen EDSA bike lanes, and on Wednesday, April 24, to explain why the agency is considering proposals to altogether remove or reduce the size of those bike lanes.

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But another major bike count study, conducted by the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC), yielded a much higher count of EDSA cyclists: over 7,000.

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Rappler, in a call with MMDA Traffic Engineering Center head Neomie Recio on Thursday, April 25, found that the 1,586 number was obtained by MMDA by counting cyclists from just one spot of EDSA, for one day, on July 28, 2023.

According to Recio, they did this count from 6 am to 8 pm in just one spot of EDSA, somewhere between Ortigas Avenue and Annapolis. They counted every hour during that time period, both on the north-bound and south-bound sides.

The MMDA did two other counts in that same spot on two other dates last year. During a whole-day count on July 26, they counted 1,229 cyclists. On another count on July 27, they counted 1,225 cyclists.

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On the dates MMDA did its bike count, Storm Signal Number 1 was declared over Metro Manila due to Typhoon Egay (Doksuri). Could this account for the much lower bike count? Why did MMDA conduct a bike count during a storm?

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority is exploring the possibility of removing EDSA’s bicycle lane as part of a study the MMDA is conducting with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to consider an exclusive motorcycle lane along the highway.

In an interview with dzBB yesterday, acting MMDA Chairman Romando Artes said there is a proposal suggesting the complete removal of bicycles from EDSA.

“It is still being studied… considering that we (have) probably the only major highway in the world where there are bicycles,” Artes said in Filipino.

He highlighted concerns over the underutilization of the bicycle lane, with only 1,500 cyclists using it daily compared to 170,000 motorcycles going through EDSA per day.

MANILA, Philippines — Regulating electric vehicles like bicycles and tricycles or e-bikes and e-trikes could worsen road congestion in Metro Manila, a group promoting mobility and active transport warned.

The recent decision of the local government units in Metro Manila and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to ban e-bikes and e-trikes along national highways and requiring users to secure driver’s license was “narrow thinking,” according to Roberto Siy Jr., co-convenor of Move as One Coalition.

“It will send the message that we should instead use cars,” he said in a report from News5.

Investing in private cars and motorcycles would “cause more traffic” compared to electric vehicles, which Siy maintained would be “more efficient, zero emission and less demanding in terms of road space.”

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) cannot give overtime pay for teachers who served as poll watchers, according to agency Chairman George Garcia on Thursday.

The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) had appealed to the Comelec to grant teachers overtime pay for working non-stop for more than 24 hours.

“In as much as we would like to give, however, there is this joint COA-DBM (Commission on Audit – Department of Budget and Management) circular which provides that only employees of an agency [are] entitled to claim overtime. The teachers who served as electoral board members are not employees of Comelec,” Garcia told reporters when asked about the TDC’s request.

Garcia also said that a budget was not provided for such items.

The TDC has appealed to allow overtime pay for teachers, saying that some have reached around 30 hours of work for the elections.

“Many of our Department of Education employees work beyond 24 hours and are thus entitled to overtime pay,” TDC Chair Benjo Basas said.

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has stopped the rapid push to bring to life the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) this year, directing the key people concerned to stand down and further study the plan.

In a memorandum dated Oct. 12 and addressed to the heads of the Bureau of the Treasury, Land Bank of the Philippines, and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said that “upon the directive of the President, the Treasurer of the Philippines, in coordination with [Landbank] and DBP, is hereby directed to suspend the implementation of the IRR (implementing rules and regulations)” of the law that created the MIF.

According to Bersamin, the suspension stands “pending the further study” of the IRR.

The Treasurer and the chief executive officers of Landbank and DBP were also told to notify “all concerned heads of departments, bureaus, offices and other agencies.” Bersamin did not elaborate.

MANILA, Philippines — To rectify an “injustice” committed against someone who was only doing his job, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte on Monday urged the local police to reinstate a relieved policeman who claimed the convoy of Vice President Sara Duterte’s convoy was passing when enforcers stopped the flow of traffic on Commonwealth Avenue.

Duterte earlier claimed she was in Mindanao, denying she caused the traffic along the busy road.

Belmonte made the call to Quezon City Police District following her clarification with Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) acting chairman Romando Artes, who said that it is only normal to give courtesy for VIPs — like vice president — in public roads.

Belmonte stressed that she did not react at first when Executive Master Sergeant Verdo Pantollano was relieved by the QCPD, since she was under the impression the police officer had committed a wrongdoing by stopping traffic.

However, the mayor said she decided to speak up when Artes made the clarification.

“Following the clarification made by Chairman Artes, I feel that an injustice was committed against Pantollano and must be rectified, regardless of who the VIP was,” Belmonte said in a statement.

“The cop must be reinstated as he was simply doing his job,” she added.

Belmonte also noted that the MMDA did not relieve nor take any action against the personnel who were present during the incident.

MANILA, Philippines — Police are eyeing criminal complaints against a man suspected to be responsible for a video that showed motorists at a standstill along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, allegedly due to the convoy of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Lt. Col. May Genio, commander of the Holy Spirit police station, identified the person as Janus Munar, whom she described as a staunch critic of Duterte, based on his Facebook posts.

“We are baffled why he was in the middle of the road and trying to agitate the motorists,” Genio said in Filipino during an interview over Radyo 630 dwPM.

Genio said they are eyeing a cybercrime complaint against Munar but clarified that an investigation is still ongoing.

Sought for comment, Munar vehemently denied that he was the one who took a video of the traffic along Commonwealth Avenue and approached a policeman who said they stopped the traffic to give way to Duterte.

“I am not the one who took the video and I am not in any way related to the one who took it,” Munar told The STAR.

In a statement posted on Facebook, Munar said the video was only sent by a friend through Facebook Messenger.

“As a concerned citizen, I posted it because I want the public to know that to stop the traffic for a VIP to cross is a little excessive,” Munar said.

Leading broadcast company GMA Network takes a bold step towards the future of sports broadcasting as it launches the country's first-ever Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated sportscasters.

A trailblazing collaboration between GMA Integrated News (GMAIN), GMA New Media Inc. (NMI), and GMA Synergy, this digital initiative is set to be unveiled on Sunday, September 24, in time for the start of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Season 99.

Named Maia and Marco, the newest Kapuso AI sportscasters are set to bring the biggest news on NCAA Season 99 as well as updates on local and international sports featuring Filipino athletes on the social media platforms of GMAIN, GMA Sports, and GMA Synergy.

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 21) – The ₱21,000 monthly salary of engineers in the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has become a stumbling block in hiring personnel, officials admitted to senators on Thursday.

During the Senate Finance subcommittee’s hearing on the proposed ₱729.76-million budget for Phivolcs next year, Senator Francis Tolentino asked about the 43 unfilled positions in the agency.

Phivolcs Director Teresito Bacolcol said this was due to lack of applicants.

“'Yung entry level positions namin, especially for 'yung nasa probinsya, would be Salary Grade 9 and kailangan may eligibility sila. Walang nag-a-apply kasi Salary Grade 9 is just ₱21,000. And kailangan po namin 'yung mga engineer, we have to train them for interpreting our seismic data,” Bacolcol said.

[Translation: Our entry level positions in the province are Salary Grade 9 and applicants need eligibility. No one is applying because Salary Grade 9 is only ₱21,000. And we need more engineers…]

He said the agency also has a high attrition rate because many employees would resign, transfer to another office, or retire.

Department of Science and Technology Secretary (DOST) Renato Solidum said they cannot just hire fresh graduates.

“'Yung requirement, kunwari engineer, geologist, ilang years na experience, one year experience, so hindi ka maka-hire ng fresh graduate diyan. Tapos hihingi ka ng ganoong requirement tapos ang sweldo mo ₱21,000. Maghanap na lang sila ng trabaho sa iba,” Solidum said.

[Translation: The requirements, for example engineers or geologists, need one year or several years of experience so fresh graduates can’t be hired. They’re going to ask for those requirements but the salary is only ₱21,000. They’ll look for different work.]

Tolentino said the agency should restructure to request a higher salary grade for its employees. Bacolcol agreed.

The Tolentino-led finance subcommittee approved the proposed ₱25.6 billion budget for the DOST and its attached agencies.