ACTOR Richard Gutierrez was among the 90 persons arrested by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Tuesday as the agency reintensified its campaign against speeding on Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City, following the accident that killed veteran journalist and University of the Philippines professor Lourdes “Chit” Estella-Simbulan.
MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said on Wednesday morning alone 50 persons were arrested for speeding and violating the 60-kilometer-per- hour speed limit along the 12.4-km highway.
The MMDA reported that Gutierrez was apprehended while on his way to a taping venue on Tuesday.
Earlier, Tolentino said he would discuss with the Department of Labor and Employment schemes to provide public-utility bus drivers a regular salary.
Tolentino said the scheme was among the measures that the agency is looking into to prevent bus drivers from racing against each other on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa) and other thoroughfares in Metro Manila to get more passengers since they are working on a commission basis.
“Ito ang isa sa mga pag-uusapan namin bukas [Huwebes] kasama ang labor department kung paano ito maisasakatuparan. Ang problema kasi nagkakarera ang mga bus sa lansangan at nag-aagawan sa pasahero dahil ang kanilang kita ay nakabase sa commission at hindi sa regular na sahod,” Tolentino said.
He said with a regular salary, drivers have no more incentive to race against each other though bus operators have in the past repeatedly thumbed down the idea.
The issue came out after the death of Simbulan on Friday night in a road accident on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.
Simbulan was killed instantly after the taxi she was riding was rammed from behind by a Universal Guiding Star Line bus driven by Daniel Espinosa, who is in hiding.
The MMDA has offered a P100,000 reward any information on his whereabouts and the Quezon City Police Department has formed tracker teams to look for Espinosa.
House probe of accident sought
MILITANT legislators have sought an investigation, in aid of legislation, on the causes of vehicular accidents and road kills on Commonwealth Avenue, the latest of which was the death of Simbulan.
In House Resolution 1260, Party-list Reps. Luzviminda Ilagan and Emercenciana de Jesus of Gabriela directed the House of Representatives’ Committee on Transportation and Committee on Public Works and Highways to conduct the investigation in order to come up with recommendations on how to make our streets and highways safe for vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
The resolution also sought to enhance the road safety-consciousness of transportation accompanies and address the issue of disciplining and enforcing the liabilities of drivers and transportation companies invol0ved in vehicular accidents.
“Vehicular accidents on Commonwealth Avenue have claimed so many lives. The fact that an average of five to six accidents happen in Commonwealth avenue every day is cause for alarm. This is a problem that must be addressed before more lives are lost,” said Ilagan.
“It is important that Congress come up with recommendations to make Commonwealth Avenue safer for drivers, commuters and pedestrians. The fact that some 21 individuals were killed and 608 individuals were injured in 2010 shows that much should be done not just to promote discipline among those who ply this route but to determine what can be done to improve the structural safety of this notorious road,” she added.
Because of the high incidence of vehicular accidents and road kills, Commonwealth Avenue has come to be known as “the killer highway.”
(With F. Marasigan)
