Metropolitan Manila Development Authority


The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority is a government agency of the Philippines responsible for constituting the regional government of Metro Manila, comprising the capital city of Manila, the cities of Quezon City, Caloocan, Pasay, Mandaluyong, Makati, Pasig, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Las PiƱas, ParaƱaque, Valenzuela, Malabon, Taguig, Navotas and San Juan, and the municipality of Pateros.
The MMDA is under the direct supervision of the Office of the President of the Philippines. It performs planning, monitoring and coordinative functions, and in the process exercises regulatory and supervisory authority over the delivery of metro-wide services within Metro Manila without diminution of the autonomy of the local government units concerning purely local matters.
The agency is headed by a chairman, who is appointed by, and continues to hold office at the discretion of, the President of the Philippines. The chairman is vested with the rank, rights, privileges, disqualifications, and prohibitions of a cabinet member.

History

Establishment of Metro Manila

On November 7, 1975, President Ferdinand Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 824 creating Metro Manila and its managing public corporation, the Metropolitan Manila Commission after the residents of the affected cities and municipalities approved the creation of Metro Manila in a referendum held on February 27, 1975. The move consolidated the Philippine capital Manila and adjacent Quezon City with two cities and twelve municipalities of the province of Rizal and one municipality of the province of Bulacan into Metro Manila and designated Metro Manila as the national capital region of the Philippines. Marcos appointed his wife, First Lady Imelda Marcos, as governor and Ismael Mathay Jr. as vice governor. The office was located in front of the present-day GMA Network at EDSA corner Timog Avenue in Diliman, Quezon City. November 7, thus, is marked as the anniversary of both the region and the government body that supervises it, the MMDA.
On May 29, 1976, President Ferdinand Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 940, restoring the City of Manila as the capital city of the Philippines, and designating Metro Manila as the permanent seat of national government.
The MMC became effectively defunct when on January 9, 1990, President Corazon Aquino issued Executive Order No. 392, in accordance to Article 18, Section 8 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution which replaced the commission with the Metropolitan Manila Authority. The Metro Manila mayors will choose from themselves as chairman. Jejomar Binay of the municipality of Makati served as its first chairman. The agency transferred to its office at the intersection of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue and Orense Street in Guadalupe Nuevo, Makati. Binay was followed by Ignacio Bunye of the municipality of Muntinlupa in 1991, Ismael Mathay Jr. of Quezon City in 1992 then Prospero Oreta of the municipality of Malabon in 1994.
Since the elected chairman is one of the mayors of Metro Manila, the role to their constituency gave less attention. Thus, the Congress of the Philippines, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives, passed Republic Act No. 7924 creating the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority on March 1, 1995. President Fidel V. Ramos appointed former Malabon mayor Prospero Oreta, who did not run in the Malabon municipal election, as the first Chairman of the MMDA in May 1995 and made him independent of the Metro Manila mayors.

Current developments

In August 2017, the MMDA has adopted the use of a black beret in order to improve its public image. The berets are used by the traffic enforcers under the agency, which alternate these with a black baseball cap.
On May 23, 2022, President Rodrigo Duterte inaugurated the new headquarters of the MMDA at the intersection of DoƱa Julia Vargas Avenue and Molave Street in Ugong, Pasig. The building was initially conceptualized by a collaboration between former MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim and the Makati chapter of the United Architects of the Philippines in 2018, with the conceptual design being done by architect Daryl Van Abaygar and was constructed by the Robinsons Land Corporation.

Divisions

  • Highway Patrol Division also part of the Traffic Enforcement Division
  • Road Emergency Group
  • Traffic Enforcement Division
  • Traffic Engineering Center
  • Towing Services

    Metro Manila Council

The governing board and policy making body of the MMDA is the Metro Manila Council, composed of the mayors of the cities and municipalities.
The heads of the Department of Transportation, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Tourism, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, and Philippine National Police-National Capital Region Police Office or their duly authorized representatives, attend meetings of the council as non-voting members.
The council is the policy-making body of the MMDA.
  • It approves metro-wide plans, programs and projects and issues rules, regulations and resolutions deemed necessary by the MMDA.
  • It may increase the rate of the allowances and per diems of the members of the council to be effective during the term of the succeeding Council. It fixes the compensation of the officers and personnel of the MMDA, and approves the annual budget thereof for submission to the Department of Budget and Management.
  • It promulgates rules and regulations and sets policies and standards for metro-wide application governing the delivery of basic services, prescribes and collects service and regulatory fees, and imposes and collects fines and penalties.

    Agency chairpersons

Current Metro Manila Council members

The council consists of voting and non-voting members. Voting members are the mayors of the localities in Metro Manila, as well as the Presidents of the Metro Manila Vice Mayors League and the Metro Manila Councilors League. Non-voting members are representatives by the following who serve as council members ex-officio:

Traffic jurisdiction

The MMDA has traffic jurisdiction over Metro Manila's ten radial roads, five circumferential roads and other roads it may include to enforce traffic laws and traffic management activities. However, the MMDA has route designations for radial roads and circumferential roads different from the route classifications of the Department of Public Works and Highways due to the MMDA's focus on only major roads and thoroughfares.

Radial roads

MMDA had TV and radio stations sometimes carrying the same brand, MMDA Teleradyo. They ceased on August 17, 2010.
  • MMDA Traffic Radio 1206 - Traffic updates can be heard on this station. It was started as a test broadcast on September 24, 2007.
  • MMDA TV - Traffic updates are Live Feed by Monitoring Cameras Along the streets of Metro Manila with simulcast over MMDA Traffic Radio 1206. It was started as a test broadcast on August 20, 2008.
To compensate for the closure of these communication mediums, the MMDA turned to social media such as Twitter to broadcast traffic updates to users following them. Live billboards, particularly at EDSA, have been also constructed. The MMDA app for iOS and Android have also been made available for free, broadcasting traffic updates directly.

Pasig River Ferry

Since 2014, the agency took over the mothballed Pasig River ferry system in anticipation of huge traffic along the metropolis, from the Skyway Stage 3 construction. In reviving the defunct transportation, many of the old ferry stations were reactivated and new vessels purchased. Ridership of the waterway service increased over time since the agency's takeover, with the offering of discounts to students and senior citizens, until these were made totally free of charge. The MMDA intends to continue operating the ferry service until a private investor takes over.

No Physical Contact Policy

Since 2003, the MMDA has implemented a No Contact Apprehension Policy in apprehending traffic violators in Metro Manila using traffic enforcement cameras and closed-circuit television to capture violators without the presence of an on-site traffic enforcer.

Mabuhay Lane">Mabuhay Lanes">Mabuhay Lane

To ease traffic congestion on main roads in Metro Manila, the MMDA under Chairman Francis Tolentino launched Christmas Lanes, marking 17 alternative routes for motorists during the Christmas season of 2014. Since then, they have been renamed as year-round Mabuhay Lane, designating alternative routes on roads that should be cleared of obstructions at all times. This was underscored by strict parking restrictions, where parked motor vehicles along these priority roads would be immediately towed.

Illegal Parking and Towing

The MMDA is tasked to clear obstructions from the roads at all times, and conducts daily clearing operations against stalled and illegally parked vehicles, with subcontracted towing companies. Illegally parked vehicles will be given 5 minutes to leave, and will be towed otherwise. Incapacitated vehicles are almost immediately towed to clear traffic.
Primary and secondary roads, unless with designated parking areas, are considered "No-Parking-Zones".