No amount of political will suffice if we allow things to slide back. Corruption, it is said, is rampant in the illegal use of roads and sidewalks as public transport terminals, parking spaces and vending areas.

Two days before the scheduled deadline for road and sidewalk clearing, Metro Manila is in a frenzy. Road excavations left unfinished are being covered, street parking has been given some semblance of order, sidewalks are being cleared, obstructions demolished and even homeowners who have allocated part of the sidewalk or streets as their own have volunteered to set back their fences to give way to the new order.

What gives? Thank the Department of the Interior and Local Government all the way to the tenant at Malacañang for the new vigor in street order. A DILG memorandum circular issued by Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año last 29 July ordered all mayors and local executives nationwide to clear all roads of obstacles in their areas under pain of suspension.

The memorandum circular 2019-121 was in line with President Duterte’s directive during this year’s State of the Nation Address enjoining all local officials to exercise their powers essential to reclaim public roads being used for private ends and, in the process, rid them of illegal structures and constructions.

The response was overwhelming, to say the least. Going around the metro is like getting a whiff of fresh air. Sidewalks have been reclaimed, roads have been rid of illegal settlements and public cooperation is simply amazing. As a result, traffic has been moving freely on the side streets, never mind EDSA of course, and poor Juan de la Cruz, erstwhile reeling from suffocation, can now heave a sigh of relief.

In a survey, Metro Manila local government units are among the most compliant with the campaign to clear roads of obstructions. As of early this month, a total of 139,959 meters of roads and 52,831 meters of sidewalks in Metro Manila have been cleared of obstructions and illegal structures.

Based on the latest compliance report submitted to the DILG’s Bureau of Local Government Supervision (BLGS), all road clearing operations are going smoothly in all 17 LGU in Metro Manila in compliance with the DILG memorandum.

“We are pleased with the support, cooperation and compliance of Metro mayors to the presidential directive, but we need to do more and we expect them to sustain their efforts in order to help clear the streets of Metro Manila of traffic,” Año was quoted as saying.

The DILG Secretary said the most common obstructions cleared in Metro Manila include illegally-parked vehicles, sidewalk vendors, street dwellers and barangay outposts.

Año said the clearing operations have also resulted in the dismantling of 1,444 illegal vendors, 49 illegal terminals, 1,292 illegally parked vehicles and 813 other obstructions.

In other LGU nationwide, 43.3 percent have reportedly been cleared.

Despite the initial success of the campaign, there are still a lot of challenges to be hurdled. Maintaining and sustaining clear roads is one, particularly in Metro Manila where illegal occupants go back to squatting after the operation. We believe that the real test of performance of the local chief executives lies in their consistency of maintaining cleared roads beyond the 29 September deadline.

Año is right in slapping sanctions on local government officials unable to comply with the presidential order, ranging from reprimand, suspension to dismissal from the service. All road clearing operations should also apply to all regardless of political affiliation. Illegally constructed structures on government lots should likewise be dismantled whether they are government or private entities.

There has never been this welcome compliance from the citizenry for as long as we can remember. And we should never blow this once again. Bribery and corruption, long the bane of this country, should never be allowed to rear its ugly head once again if we want the Duterte administration to succeed in solving traffic woes.

The task by itself is herculean. No amount of political will suffice if we allow things to slide back. Corruption, it is said, is rampant in the illegal use of roads and sidewalks as public transport terminals, parking spaces and vending areas.

As one analyst observes, the present road and sidewalk clearing campaign is like a herculean fight against corruption. This is the State, he says, flexing its muscles and using its police powers to reclaim and give back to the people all the roads and sidewalks that rightfully belong to them.

Even Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade was quoted as saying that there will be no need for the emergency powers that he has requested twice and rejected as many times in Congress if there are dynamic and cooperative mayors like the present batch of Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso in Manila, Vico Sotto of Pasig, Francis Zamora of San Juan and Joy Belmonte of Quezon City.

The State, or so it seems, has ample police powers to remove all unwanted obstructions. What we just need is political will.