MMDA shuttle buses not allowed on EDSA bus carousel, MMDA clarifies

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Thursday clarified that its shuttle buses are not allowed to use the EDSA bus carousel.

MMDA chairman Don Artes issued the remark after two of its shuttle buses were issued traffic violation tickets for using the busway.

"Ang amin po talagang patakaran ay bawal po ang mga taga-MMDA sa bus carousel except 'yung aming emergency vehicle kung magreresponde sa emergency situation [at] 'yung aming mga marked vehicle kung may relation sa operations sa bus carousel," he said.

(Our policy is that MMDA personnel cannot use the busway except for our emergency vehicles when responding to emergencies, and marked vehicles in relation to the carousel's operations.)

"So ako po ay humihingi ng paumanhin for the confusion na nangyari and rest assured na hindi na po mauulit ang ganitong pangyayari, in so far as the MMDA as an agency is concerned," he later added.

(I am apologizing for the confusion that took place and rest assured that it will no longer happen, in so far as the MMDA as an agency is concerned.)

According to a report on Balitanghali on Thursday, the MMDA, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, and Armed Forces of the Philippines were among the government agencies whose vehicles were flagged down for using the bus carousel.

A driver of one MMDA bus, however, showed a memorandum issued by the agency stating that an MMDA bus may use the carousel lane. He also denied using the bus lane when he was apprehended.

"Nu'ng pinagbawal po kami, nandyan kami sa labas talaga. Oo, nagtiyatiyaga kami sa traffic. Kaya ako nagtataka, bakit titikitan mo. Eto naman 'yung memo eh,” the driver said.

(When we were prohibited we didn’t use it. We would tolerate the traffic. That's why I'm confused why I was given a ticket. This is the memo.)

Artes, for his part, said that the relevant  memorandum issued on Feb. 20 mistakenly stated that MMDA shuttle buses "are allowed" to use the bus carousel, instead of "not allowed."

"Ito naman po ay kanyang kinorrect… to indicate nga po na not allowed. So inaalam pa namin kung baka hindi po ito nakarating sa driver ng dalawang bus namin," he said.

(This has been corrected to indicate that it is not allowed. So we are still checking if the correction reached the driver of our two buses.)

The MMDA chairman said that a memorandum regulating the use of the bus carousel was already issued in September 2023. — VDV, GMA Integrated News