MMDA celebrates 36th Founding Anniversary

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority is celebrating its 36th founding anniversary on Tuesday, November 8, with a series of daylong activities, including free rides to the public along Edsa.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino will lead the anniversary celebration, along with members of the Metro Manila Council composed of the 17 mayors from the National Capital Region (NCR).

Also invited to the event are the former chairmen of the MMDA, selected members of the House of Representatives, the Metro Manila Spouses Foundation, Inc., and heads of other government agencies and foreign dignitaries.

"This would be a memorable day not just for the MMDA but for the entire Metro Manila. At 36 years, we have come a long way, we have endured and persevered, and we will still be here for decades to come, providing basic, metro-wide services within Metro Manila," Tolentino said.

With the theme "MMDA @ 36: Maasahan, Kabalikat sa Pagbabago," the agency's anniversary activities will start with a five-kilometer Fun Run to be participated by 500 MMDA employees at Bonifacio Global City at 5:30 am.

Tolentino will lead the flag ceremony at the MMDA grounds along Edsa-Orense Street in Makati City, where traffic enforcers of the Traffic Discipline Office will conduct a pass-in-review to honor MMDA officials and guests.

In grateful appreciation to the public's support for the programs of the MMDA, several MMDA buses will be dispatched to Edsa to offer free rides to commuters.

Other activities lined up on Tuesday include food bazaar and tiangge, a health and wellness program for employees, and a video and photo exhibit and a garage sale at the MMDA lobby.

In addition, Tolentino said the agency will also be giving out special awards and citations to outstanding employees, especially those who have been in service for more than 30 years.

MMDA performs planning, monitoring and coordinative functions, and in the process exercise regulatory and supervisory authority over the delivery of metro-wide services within Metro Manila.

Created by Presidential Decree 824 issued by then President Ferdinand Marcos, MMDA originally started out as Metro Manila Commission (MMC) on November 7, 1975, which integrated Manila and adjacent Quezon City with two cities and 12 municipalities of the province of Rizal and one municipality of Bulacan.

Former First Lady Imelda Marcos was then the appointed Metro Manila governor, with Ismael Mathay, Jr. as vice-governor.

It was on January 9, 1990, during President Corazon Aquino's administration, that MMC became the Metro Manila Authority (MMA) through Executive Order No. 392. Now Vice President Jejomar Binay was its first chairman.

The agency was officially renamed as MMDA on March 1, 1995 through the passage of Republic Act 7924. Then President Fidel Ramos appointed the late former Malabon mayor Prospera Oreta as the first MMDA chairman. -MMDA — ARA