THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) today said the first day of the 55th Asian Development Bank (ADB) Annual Meeting in Mandaluyong City was peaceful and orderly, with smooth traffic flow monitored.
MMDA Acting Chairman Carlo Dimayuga III said the agency, together with the Philippine National Police (PNP), continues to monitor the conduct of the ADB in a hybrid format at the ADB Headquarters in Ortigas Center, which starts today, September 26 up to September 30, 2022, to ensure the event will be organized until its culmination.
“The collaboration of the PNP, MMDA, and concerned local government units has resulted in peace and order in the area that would boost both economic activity and tourism in the National Capital Region (NCR),” said Dimayuga.
With the NCR serving as the nation’s financial and commercial hub, he continued, “We want to offer the ADB delegations a good and secure stay while hosting the annual meeting.”
At least 350 foreign delegates from member-economies of the ADB and government agencies are expected to attend the 55th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors. Several heads of state have confirmed their attendance at the on-site meeting.
The MMDA deployed 500 personnel along the ADB-dedicated route for the seamless movement of delegates from the airport to the billeting hotels, venues, and other engagement areas, and vice versa, at the least inconvenience to the general public.
They are in charge of traffic management, closed circuit television (CCTV) monitoring, emergency preparedness and response, road safety, road clearing and cleaning operations, and flood mitigation.
An ADB Special Lane along Saint Francis and Bank Drive was also set up to give way to the delegates’ convoy on September 28 and 29. The EDSA Busway Carousel Lane was also utilized in the primary routes of the delegates’ convoys.
The MMDA Road Emergency Group, in coordination with the Office of Civil Defense, Department of Health, and Bureau of Fire Protection, were placed on standby to provide emergency assistance.
Traffic personnel from the PNP, Mandaluyong, and Pasig local government units, and the security forces of the Ortigas Center have also implemented traffic directions and control along the ADB routes.