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NO CODING FOR HIGH OCCUPANCY CARPOOLS

NO CODING FOR HIGH OCCUPANCY CARPOOLS Let me state my bias upfront: the purpose of number coding is traffic reduction, not driver punishment. If that is the real objective—and it should be—then it is baffling that Metro Manila continues to ignore one of the most obvious, cheapest, and fastest traffic management tools available to us: incentivizing high-occupancy vehicles. As of February 2026, there is still no MMDA-wide exemption from the Expanded Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) for carpools or high-occupancy vehicles (HOVs). Whether you are alone in your car or carrying four co-workers, coding applies just the same on EDSA, C5, Commonwealth, and most major roads. One car, one penalty—passenger count be damned. That approach may be simple to enforce, but it is also stubbornly illogical. Common sense tells us that the more people we pack into one vehicle, the fewer vehicles we send onto the road. Fewer vehicles mean less congestion, lower fuel consumption, reduced emi...
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EVERYONE SHOULD REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT, HE SHOULD NOT REPORT TO HIMSELF

EVERYONE SHOULD REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT, HE SHOULD NOT REPORT TO HIMSELF What I am about to suggest is not about what is right or wrong. It is about what is good—and what could be better. It may sound disruptive to some, but it is certainly not destructive. On the contrary, it may even be constructive, if only we are willing to rethink how power, accountability, and time are managed at the very top. Let me be clear at the outset: the President should preside over Cabinet meetings. That is non-negotiable. The Cabinet exists to advise the President, and the President must lead it. But below the Cabinet, should the President preside over every other high-level meeting and council? That is where I think we need to pause and reflect. At present, the President of the Philippines is the Chairman of at least six core strategic bodies: the Economy and Development Council (formerly the NEDA Board), the National Security Council, the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council, the Climate...
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THE CATCH 22 CONUNDRUM OF ZERO BALANCE BILLING

THE CATCH 22 CONUNDRUM OF ZERO BALANCE BILLING So far, about four cases of this Catch-22 situation have been reported to me by my readers. For them, it feels like being caught between the devil and the deep blue sea . On paper, Zero Balance Billing (ZBB)—also called No Balance Billing—sounds like a godsend. The announcement is simple and reassuring: if you are confined in certain public hospitals, you pay nothing. Zero. Walang babayaran . But as with many well-intentioned government programs, the devil is in the details. The first and most common “catch” is this: to qualify for ZBB, the patient must be admitted to a ward, not a private room. That sounds reasonable—until real life intrudes. In emergencies, patients do not shop around for beds. They are rushed in, sometimes unconscious, sometimes barely able to understand what is happening. If the ward is full—and anyone who has stepped into a public hospital knows how common this is—the patient ends up in a private room. Sometimes it is...
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WHAT ARE HIGH OCCUPANCY VEHICLE LANES?

  WHAT ARE HIGH OCCUPANCY VEHICLE LANES? In the United States, special lanes reserved for vehicles carrying more people than just the driver are called HOV lanes—short for High-Occupancy Vehicle lanes. In plain language, these are “carpool lanes.” Some people also call them diamond lanes, because of the white diamond symbol painted on the road. Different name, same idea: move more people using fewer vehicles. In some countries, a vehicle with two occupants—including the driver—is already considered an HOV. That might work elsewhere, but here in the Philippines, I think we should aim higher. My suggestion is four passengers, including the driver, especially on expressways. If we are serious about reducing congestion, we should not settle for token compliance. What surprises me is that we are only talking seriously about this idea now. HOV lanes have existed for decades abroad. Their basic purpose is simple but powerful: instead of measuring success by how many cars we move, we measu...
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PROS AND CONS OF THE CABINET CLUSTERS SYSTEM

  PROS AND CONS OF THE CABINET CLUSTERS SYSTEM At first glance, the Cabinet Clusters System looks like one of those reforms that actually make sense. Instead of every Cabinet secretary lining up at the President’s door, departments are grouped into thematic clusters—economic development, human development, infrastructure, security, climate change, and participatory governance. Coordination, in theory, becomes smoother. Decision-making, in theory, becomes faster. And yes, generally speaking, there are more pros than cons. One major advantage is that the system has a clear legal basis. Executive Order No. 43 (2011) created the Cabinet clusters to improve policy coordination, while Executive Order No. 24 (2017) reorganized them and even expanded their scope by adding the Infrastructure Cluster and the Participatory Governance Cluster. This is not some ad hoc arrangement; it is institutionalized. That alone is a big plus in a bureaucracy that often runs on personalities rather than sys...
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IS IT TIME TO REVIEW THE ROLE OF THE METRO MANILA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY?

  IS IT TIME TO REVIEW THE ROLE OF THE METRO MANILA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY? Many experts, urban planners, and even lawmakers now agree on one thing: it is not just time to review the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) charter, the review is long overdue. Perhaps the problem already starts with the name. The MMDA is called a development authority, yet in practice it behaves more like a regulatory and law-enforcement agency. Traffic enforcer, flood responder, road disciplinarian—yes. Metro-wide development planner? That part seems to have been quietly pushed to the background. In theory, the MMDA doubles as the Regional Development Council (RDC) for the National Capital Region. But unlike all other RDCs in the country, NCR is structurally odd. Elsewhere, RDC members are governors, with private sector representatives, and the chairmanship follows a clear balance between government and business.  In NCR, however, the “RDC” is effectively composed of mayors, not gover...
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COULD THE PHILIPPINE COAST GUARD DO MORE ENVIRONMENTAL POLICE DUTIES?

  COULD THE PHILIPPINE COAST GUARD DO MORE ENVIRONMENTAL POLICE DUTIES? The short answer is yes. The longer—and more interesting—answer is that the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is already doing environmental police work, but it can, and probably should, do much more. I ask this question not to criticize the PCG, but to stress a point: if an agency is already capable and already halfway there, why not finish the job? At present, environmental law enforcement at sea is a shared and sometimes awkward arrangement. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), which is under the Department of Agriculture, focuses mainly on fisheries production and protection. It sets the rules—such as bans on catching undersized fish, egg-bearing lobsters, and berried crabs under the Fisheries Code (RA 8550, as amended)—but it does not have full police powers of its own. As a result, BFAR often calls on the PCG to help enforce these laws at sea. To its credit, that arrangement works reasonably w...
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