Quezon City Mayor Proposes 'Flood-Free Lane'

Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista wants to propose to his fellows mayor of the different cities within Metro Manila and to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to create a "flood-free lane" so that light vehicles have an alternative route to pass through and avoid the traffic that's caused by flooding. Bautista's proposal comes following the torrential downpour last Friday, August 3, that paralyzed traffic in Quezon City and forced Bautista to suspend classes in his jurisdiction because of the floods. "Immediately finorward ko sa mga department at sa MMDA. Sabi ko sa kanila, kung mayroon tayong Mabuhay lane, dapat magkaroon tayo ng 'flood-free lane' na alternative na kapag alam natin na bumabaha diyan, mayroon ka ng flood-free lane para may dadaanan 'yung mga sasakyan natin (I forwarded to the departments and to MMDA, I told them, if we have Mabuhay lane, we should have a 'flood-free lane' as a prepared alternative when we know that it’s flooding there, you already have a flood-free lane so that our vehicles can pass through)," said Bautista. "Batay sa aming monitoring, pahirapan na ang pagkuha ng masasakyan dahil sa mga pagbaha sa lungsod na pinalala pa ng ongoing na government projects (Based on our monitoring, it’s already difficult to get a passenger vehicle because of the floodings in the city which is even aggravated by ongoing government projects)," Bautista added. As the Metro Manila mayors are scheduled to meet on Tuesday, August 7, the Quezon City mayor hopes that his colleagues will help him address the issue. "On Tuesday, may meeting kami para sa traffic na 'yan, para alam ng mga mayors 'yung mga (We'll have a meeting for that traffic, so that the mayors would know those) decision points," Bautista said in a TV interview.