By DANNY O. SAGUN

NOW we know why traffic is getting problematic anew on M.H. del Pilar street, Arellano street and A. B. Fernandez Avenue east. Those bus entry and exit points which are within the prohibited zones, i. e., within the 100-meter-radius from road intersections, have been opened anew.

It seems the public order and safety office under Robert Erfe-Mejia has melted under pressure, by whom and for whom we don’t know. That city ordinance regulating establishment of PUV terminals had long been there but it was only during the Lim administration that it was fully observed.

Bus companies like Victory Liner and Five Star were forced to look for an alternate entry-exit point as their terminals on Perez boulevard were just a few meters away from the Perez Boulevard-Mayombo road intersection. Dagupan Bus, which used to occupy the now Jollibee branch on corner A.B. Fernandez avenue and Arellano street had to relocate its terminal far away from the prohibited zone.

The holding area of PUVs (former Pantranco terminal) was designed to have entry and exit points that would not contribute to traffic congestion on the busy M.H. del Pilar street.

Now those concrete barriers at the old entrance gate of the Pantranco terminal were moved aside to allow buses and vans to move in and out.

The old Byron Bus entry/exit point near traffic Post No. 1 became alive anew bringing more traffic woes in that area. Imagine a very long bus being maneuvered on a very narrow pathway leading to a terminal at the back of a building there, stalling/delaying travel by all other motorists. We really could not understand the thinking of the people who allowed that terminal to operate again.

We just hope that Victory and Five Star will not follow suit, else, anarchy reigns in that busy past of the city.

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We cannot help therefore but raise a howl against this latest act of City Hall – if Mayor Al Fernandez knew of it.

Before his return to power, several sectors had feared that anarchy in the streets would return just like in the old days of his nine-year reign. That abusive drivers would have their heyday anew in our streets even as ambulant vendors would relish their halcyon days in our sidewalks. That Robert’s men would be reduced to being just OJT criminology students practically holding no authority over abusive motorists and indifferent pedestrians. These fears seem to be true after all and happening right now.

We wonder if the POSO chief would stay any longer in his post with what is going on right in his turf. This corner has recognized Robert’s performance during Lim’s time. Perhaps, he was retained by the present administration for that reason.

It appears however that the atmosphere he is dealing with now is different, and if we knew him, he could not just close his eyes and pretend to work undisturbed.

He told us in our radio interview with him sometime last month that nothing really changed in the enforcement of traffic rules under the Fernandez administration, only that an important element was introduced – utmost courtesy to motorists especially PUV drivers. We did not take that to mean that his field men were discourteous before, although some might have been like that so that we heard of one traffic aide gunned down while manning traffic. He meant perhaps that his men would now exercise more patience in dealing with abusive drivers.

But we think Robert’s patience itself might have been overstretched that he could no longer stomach things going on under his very nose.