THE FIVE functions of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) are:
1. development planning
2. transport and traffic management
3. solid waste disposal and management
4. flood control and sewerage management, and
5. urban renewal, zoning and land use planning
When I interviewed an MMDA official some years ago and asked him what are the functions of his agency, he only mentioned items 2, 3 and 4, perhaps forgetting 1 and 5.
I could not explain how he could forget the first and the last functions, but if at all, it could be an indication of how the MMDA officials interpret their functions and priorities.
Perhaps, the MMDA is the only region in the Philippines that also has the legal status of being a government agency at the same time. Because of that duality, it has a separate budget allocation under the General Appropriations Act (GAA), a benefit that the other regions do not enjoy.
Although it is required to submit its own Regional Development Plan (RDP), it is apparently not required to have its own Regional Development Council (RDC), seemingly because it is the Metro Manila Council (MMC) that performs that role.
As I understand it, the RDP of the MMDA should be submitted to the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), for inclusion into the Philippine Development Plan (PDP).
Presumably, the RDP of MMDA should include the Comprehensive Land Use Plans (CLUPs) of the LGUs under it.
That may sound good in theory, but is that really the reality?
As it is supposed to be, all the plans and projects of the Municipal Development Councils (MDCs) are supposed to be submitted to the RDCs above them. Is that the case of the MMDA that is supposed to be the RDC in the National Capital Region (NCR)?
If that is not the case, it could explain why development planning, the transport and traffic management, the solid waste disposal and management, the flood control and sewerage management and the urban renewal, zoning and land use planning is so disconnected./PN
