MANILA - Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian said Thursday he has asked the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to reimplement the number coding and truck ban in the city due to heavy traffic this holiday season.

The MMDA had suspended the number coding scheme and the truck ban in the early months of the pandemic to ensure unhampered movement of essential workers and goods.

"Wala ngang number coding scheme so medyo 'yung volume ng sasakyan punong-puno ngayon," he told ABS-CBN's Teleradyo.

(There's no number coding scheme so the volume traffic is very heavy right now.)

"Yung truck ban, remember ang Valenzuela industrial city 'to and kailangan namin ang truck ban kundi kasi sumasabay ang malalaking truck sa rush hour."

(Remember Valenzuela is an industrial city so we need a truck ban because big trucks get in the way during rush hour.)

Gatchalian also cited the mandatory implementation of RFID in the North Luzon Expressway as cause for heavy traffic.

• RFID sticker maaari pa ring ipakabit matapos ang Dec. 1 deadline: Metro Pacific Tollways

"Atras abante bago ka makadaan, 'yung ibang tao napipilitan dumaan sa EDSA, MacArthur Highway para makabalik sa Valenzuela," he said.

(Vehicles on your path move forward and backward, some people are forced to take EDSA and MacArthur Highway just to go back to Valenzuela.

"Bago pa naging mandatory news, 7 years ko na atang iniiyak to sa kanila pero tila parang bingi at bulag ang nasa NLEX...Di naman foolproof ang system at palyado."

(I've complained about it to them for 7 years, before this became mandatory but NLEX seemed blind and dead...Their system is flawed and not foolproof.)

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