It’s business as usual for the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) as it conducts road clearing operations on Valentine’s Day, but with a twist.
Online reports surfaced about the traffic authority giving roses to street vendors affected by an operation conducted in Manila on Wednesday, February 14, where stalls were dismantled.
The stalls were encroaching on sidewalks.
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, the MMDA personnel gave the vendors rose stems.
However, one store owner refused to receive the rose given to her following the operation.
The MMDA’s move drew flak from some Filipinos who thought it was “insensitive” on the traffic authority’s part.
“T*nga ba kayo o sadyang talaga kayo. How insensitive,” an online user commented.
“Tinawanan pa. Nakakatawa ba ‘yung sirain ang pinagkakakitaan [niya],” another Pinoy wrote.
The MMDA also gave rose stems to the vehicles it has flagged with violation tickets in Paco, Manila for illegal parking.
Unattended vehicles were taken to its impounding area.
One of those who was given a violation ticket was jeepney driver Mauricio Mondala, who, according to reports, was “all smiles after getting a rose from MMDA enforcers.”
Before that, he was “fuming mad” after being apprehended for illegal parking.
The MMDA, on the other hand, said that Valentine’s Day is not an excuse for them to stop its clearing operations.
The traffic authority conducts clearing operations on roads and sidewalks to sustain the unhampered flow of vehicles in the metro. It is also tasked to adopt measures to ease traffic congestion in Metro Manila.
These include flagging illegally parked vehicles, apprehending illegal vendors using sidewalks, among others.
