EDITORIAL - Wang-wang returns
The acting chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority yesterday suspended Bong Nebrija, head of the MMDA’s Task Force Special Operations Unit. Nebrija’s offense? His handling of an incident along the EDSA busway. Nebrija had allowed the VIP to use the busway after being told by an MMDA traffic enforcer who had stopped the convoy that the VIP was Sen. Bong Revilla.
The busway is supposedly for the exclusive use of public utility buses, ambulances and marked government vehicles responding to emergencies. Nebrija, who was not present when the traffic enforcer stopped the convoy along the northbound busway in Mandaluyong, explained that upon being told that Revilla was in one of the vehicles, he made a judgment call and told the traffic enforcer to let the convoy proceed.
“Out of courtesy that the convoy was in a hurry, we allowed it,” Nebrija explained.
How many motorists stuck in EDSA aren’t in a hurry? The hoi polloi, however, will be slapped with a fine of P5,000 for the first offense if caught using the busway. Meanwhile, a VIP like Revilla, who has yet to return P124.5 million to national coffers following his acquittal in his plunder case, can enjoy free use of the special lane.
Nebrija’s problem was that Revilla, amid the public derision over the reported VIP treatment, denied that it was his convoy. The traffic enforcer has no selfie or video to prove that it was Revilla in the convoy. A fuming Revilla later said he wanted the MMDA budget for 2024 recalled because of the incident. Acting MMDA Chairman Romando Artes ordered the suspension of Nebrija.
Non-VIPs can only hope that the suspension was because Nebrija gave preferential treatment to someone, and not simply because Artes was worried about the recall of the MMDA budget. The identity of the VIP in the convoy has yet to be revealed. How hard can this be, considering that vehicle license plates are visible in MMDA surveillance camera footage and can be easily checked with the Land Transportation Office?
Inability or unwillingness to identify the owner of the convoy is yet another form of VIP treatment. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, during his presidency, had sought to eradicate the
