56 HPG personnel to undergo traffic management course

At least 56 members of the Philippine National Police's Highway Patrol Group (HPG) will undergo a traffic management course in a bid for safer and efficient traffic flow within Metro Manila.

The traffic management course for selected HPG personnel will be under the supervision of the University of the Philippines National Center for Transportation Studies Foundation, Inc. (UPNCTSFI) The classes will be held twice a week until May 17.

The memorandum of agreement on the traffic management course between the HPG and UPNCTSFI was signed on Wednesday by HPG director Chief Superintendent Arnel Escobal and UPNCTSFI president Ma. Sheilah Napalang.

MOA signing between the PNP Highway Patrol Group and U.P. National Center for Transportation Studies for the conduct of Traffic Management Course @gmanews pic.twitter.com/cp9fVEFVEK

— Marlly Bondoc (@marllybondoc) March 7, 2018

56 PNP-HPG personnel will take the Traffic Management Course under the U.P. National Center for Transportation Studies @gmanews pic.twitter.com/5FDroeopfy

— Marlly Bondoc (@marllybondoc) March 7, 2018

The seminar has two levels. The first will teach HPG personnel the basic role of law enforcers; identifying traffic laws and regulations, traffic signs and pavement markings; procedures on how to direct and control traffic; legal requirements of the administration of traffic citation tickets; and different institutional arrangement in traffic management.

The second level will focus on teaching the personnel to estimate appropriate signal timing plan for a single signalized intersection; understand the principles, strategies and concepts in traffic incident management; explain concepts that apply to traffic management during special events; describe and illustrate trends and patterns in traffic crash data; and the use of different traffic law enforcement tools and equipment such as breathalyzer and speed gun.

Escobal said that the traffic management course will be "new knowledge" for the HPG personnel as he is the only one among the HPG who has taken it before.

"Actually  we're now the ones in charge of the traffic direction in control all over Metro Manila but it is not fully implemented because we are still waiting for the executive order coming from the President. He's creating an Interagency Council on Traffic where the director is the chief traffic enforcer," he said.

"We're still finding hard time with other governing agencies because the highway patrol can only do so much if they are not issued the proper equipment or the proper tools just like the traffic citation tickets or the temporary operators permit," he added. — BM, GMA News