MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – It takes the likes of Isko Moreno to rid a city of illegal vendors, clean up the metropolis, and break down constructions that obstruct the flow of traffic. He could also make an entire city “green.”

Now, the Manila City Mayor has submitted his master plan to permanently solve the nightmarish traffic along EDSA.

In a memo sent to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Moreno proposed the following which he says is a “sure fire” to ease the never-ending traffic congestion along the busy thoroughfare which traverses several cities in Metro Manila:

1.  Arguing that mass transportation is the way to go, he proposes to permanently ban all private cars on EDSA.  The “buses-only” proposal will, however, exempt police cars, ambulances and fire trucks. One lane will be for the exclusive use of provincial buses, another for Point-to-Point buses, while the rest of the lanes will be reserved for city buses.
2. Urge the Department of Education to institutionalize and accredit “home schooling” similar to what is being done in the U.S. He says that “if we abolish elementary school, it will cut daily commute by half since kids won’t have to leave home to get an education.  And neither do their parents or nannies.”
3. Implement a 16-hour-a-day work shift for all government and private workers who could choose to work either on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays or Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.  Moreno says at any given day, the number of workers traveling on EDSA will be cut by half, and that morning and evening commutes will practically be eliminated.
4. Every Sunday, EDSA will be closed to ALL vehicular traffic.  The entire avenue will be transformed into a pedestrian’s paradise.

MMDA and the other Metro Manila Mayors have yet to comment on Moreno’s proposal, but already, technocrats who heard of the master plan are poised to fully endorse it.