Treñas forwards MIDC letter to City Council
City Mayor Jerry Treñas has referred to the Sangguniang Panlungsod the letter-request of mayors from towns under the Metro Iloilo Development Council (MIDC) to suspend the implementation of Ordinance 2007-195 which cut short the routes of passenger jeepneys from Leganes, Oton, San Miguel, Pavia and Sta. Barbara towns.
Treñas explained he has no powers to amend or defer the implementation of the already approved ordinance. It is the legislative body that has authority on whether to give credence or deny the request of the municipal mayors over the new traffic ordinance.
Though he has yet to read the letter of the mayors, Treñas ordered his staff to forward it immediately to the city council upon receipt.
Treñas added that when the traffic experimentation was effected late last year, the city council first passed an ordinance to suspend the Perimeter Boundary Ordinance (PBO). The recent traffic experimentation paved way for the approval of new traffic routes that did not only cut short the routes of municipal jeepneys but it also carried changes in the routes of city loop jeepneys.
Treñas stressed that "legally" it is the city council that has jurisdiction over the request of the MIDC mayors. The request should not be taken lightly as the requesting party are development partners of the city, he said.
Nevertheless, the mayor said traffic situation in the city has improved with the implementation of the new routes and the recent opening of the Infante flyover.
The city mayor said his travel time from his home to his office at Robinsons Place has reduced. Treñas used to have a travel time of 30 minutes from his home in Mandurriao to the Robinsons Place where the City Hall is housed, but now it only took him more than 10 minutes to reach his office. Everyone could see and feel the improvement of traffic situation in the city, the mayor said.