MANILA — Additional traffic enforcers will be deployed to the EDSA Bus Carousel and major thoroughfares in Metro Manila during the Christmas holiday rush, an official said on Thursday.

The police, coast guard, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will augment the traffic management manpower, said Inter-Agency Council for Traffic chief Charlie Del Rosario

"Hindi lang po iyong pagdagdag [ng tauhan], kung hindi po pagdagdag rin po ng oras ‘no na visible po tayo diyan... Tatauhan natin iyong iba’t ibang terminal ng mga pampublikong sasakyan para ganoon na rin po ay makita po natin, masigurado natin iyong kapakanan ng lahat ng mananakay natin," he said in a televised public briefing.

(We will not only deploy more personnel, but we will also add more work hours. We will send personnel to public transport terminals so that we can be sure of the welfare of passengers.)

Malls and shopping centers in the capital region have adjusted their operations from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. in preparation for the holiday season.

• New Metro mall hours to take effect Monday: MMDA

During the whole December, the EDSA Bus Carousel's free rides will run 24 hours, 7 days a week, in anticipation of the holiday rush.

• EDSA Bus Carousel rides to be free '24/7' on Dec. 15-31

Traffic enforcers have been deployed to the busway 24/7 even before All Saints' Day, noted Del Rosario.

"Kapag mayroon hong mga pangyayari sa mga area na iyan, nakakakonekta po tayo kaagad sa MMDA... para makapagpadala ng karagdagang tauhan, o mga equipment upang matugunan kung ano man po iyong sakuna na nangyari sa area natin," he said.

"Itong darating na Kapaskuhan ay nakipag-coordinate na rin po tayo, at mag-o-augment po ang ibang ahensiya ng gobyerno para madagdagan ang visibility natin sa EDSA Busway," added the official.

(If something happens in that area, we connect immediately to the MMDA so they could send more personnel, equipment and respond. This Christmas, we also coordinated and other agencies will augment our manpower to increase our visibility in the EDSA Busway.)

In a separate statement, the MMDA said it would boost traffic enforcers' visibility and and minimize the apprehension of "simple and light traffic violations which may hamper traffic flow."

“Our primary duty and priority is to manage traffic first before apprehending erring motorists. We don’t allow the practice of waiting for motorists to violate traffic rules before flagging them down," said MMDA chairman Romando Artes.

“However, to avoid impeded traffic flow, minor violations like swerving could be exempted on a case-to-case basis except for distracted driving and number coding,” he added.

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Video from PTV