Metro Manila Road Cleanup, 2020 Mitsubishi Montero Sport Unveiled, And Other Motoring News

Lawmaker wants to make helmets optional in certain areas

Negros Oriental Representative Arnolfo Teves Jr. wants helmets to be worn at the rider’s discretion when they traverse roads with a speed limit of 40 kilometers per hour.

By filing House Bill No. 153, Teves wants to amend Republic Act 10054 or the “Act Mandating All Motorcycle Riders to Wear Standard Protective Motorcycle Helmets While Driving.”

According to the congressman, the proposed changes in the helmet law were filed “to better conform with the traffic situation in the different cities and municipalities around the country.”

“In boulevards, city, municipal streets and crowded streets where the maximum allowable speed is lower than 40 kilometers per hour, the bill provides that the use of standard protective motorcycle helmets by motorcycle riders, including drivers and back drivers, shall be optional,” said the Congress in a press release.

San Juan disallows street parking in all city thoroughfares

Not long after he prohibited the parking on the streets near Greenhills Shopping Center, San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora canceled government-sanctioned pay parking.

In line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s calls to decongest Metro Manila Roads, Zamora issued Executive Order No. 007 or “An Order Suspending Pay Parking in All the Streets of the City of San Juan.” The mayor officially makes pay parking on San Juan no longer legal.

“I have just issued Executive Order No. 7 suspending pay parking in all the streets of the City of San Juan effective August 5, 2019. This is in response to the call of President Rodrigo Duterte to reclaim all public roads in order to ease the traffic situation in Metro Manila,” Zamora said on his Facebook page.

(Read: Bill Seeks To Regulate Parking Fees, MMDA Announces Test Run Of Bus Ban, And Other Motoring News)

DILG sets deadlines for Metro Manila mayors to clean up their own yards

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) has set September 26, 2019, as the deadline for the 60-day street cleanup period for Metro Manila mayors to comply with the president’s marching orders.

According to DILG Secretary Eduardo Año, removing obstructions to the traffic in Metro Manila has long been overdue. Now that the orders came from Duterte directly, all road obstructions such as sidewalk vendors, illegal parking structures, and makeshift vehicle terminals should be obliterated.

“Talagang nagkaroon ng pagpapabaya sa bahagi ng LGU (local government units) at pagmamalabis sa bahagi ng mga mamamayan. Kapag pinabayaan natin ito, sisikip ng sisikip ang mga daanan, mas lalong lalala ang traffic at walang mangyayaring pagbabago,” Año said.

Año ordered the local officials to work with the police, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), and other respective agencies to decongest Metro Manila roads within the set deadline.

QC court stops provincial bus ban

The Quezon City Regional Trial Court halted the implementation of the provincial bus ban by the MMDA and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).

Last week, Judge Caridad Walse-Lutero of Quezon City Branch 223 sided with the collective plea of bus transport groups who want to stop the LTFRB Memorandum Circular No. 2019-001 and MMDA Regulation No. 19-002.

According to the court, the presence of bus terminals along Edsa are not the biggest detriment to the decongestion of the main thoroughfare. Lutero even pointed out that vehicles carry only one passenger while buses carry more than 50 commuters and are not even the size of three vehicles.

“For the same space occupied on the road, a bus ferries more people than private vehicles, and yet one could find more of the latter traversing the roads including the national highways, Edsa being one of them. The conclusion therefore that the buses, especially the provincial buses and their terminals, are the ones causing the traffic seems to be unfounded,” the court said.

The government agencies will appeal the reversal of the court’s decision within the 15-day prescribed period.

Mitsubishi unveils the 2020 Montero Sport

Japanese car maker Mitsubishi is once again set to disrupt the SUV market. After weeks of teasing, the 2020 Montero Sport has finally been unveiled in Thailand.

Taking cues from its design of both the Xpander and the Strada, the Montero Sport now sports a bolder fascia with its iconic Dynamic Shield grille, redesigned front bumper, and headlights akin to the Xpander. While the front has received a facelift, much of the Montero Sport’s previous design elements have been retained.

The upcoming model will now feature an all-digital dashboard, bigger infotainment system, and upgraded air-conditioning controls.

Under the Montero Sport’s hood is still its trusty Euro 4-compliant 2.4-liter turbodiesel MIVEC engine with an eight-speed automatic transmission. Unfortunately, there’s no word yet about the variants of the SUV before it hits the markets next year.

Other sources: Carguide.ph