Provincial buses will be barred from entering Manila starting on April 1 to ease the traffic congestion in the city and to cease operations of crooked policemen asking grease money from their operators, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim said Thursday.

Lim issued the order after holding a dialogue and consultation with the various bus operators inside the Antonio Villegas Hall of the Manila City Hall last Tuesday afternoon.

According to the Manila mayor, his decision banning buses from the provinces from entering the city in April is for operators to have enough preparation on how to shuttle their passengers from Vito Cruz to Lawton.

He said traffic jams along major roads in Manila will only be eased if they bar provincial buses from going into the city.

"In the past dialogues, the operators of provincial buses and I reached a compromise agreement for a better re-routing scheme regarding the entry of provincial buses along Manila thoroughfares to lessen heavy traffic situation especially on Taft Avenue. But traffic jams along city thoroughfares especially in Taft Avenue are still being experienced by different motorists," Lim told reporters.

Another reason of Mayor Lim in banning the buses was the issue involving some traffic policemen and traffic enforcers receiving grease money from the buses parked at the Lawton area.

"Almost every day we were being criticized with this issue. They claim that the Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau are taking grease money from the operators. But how do we solve this problem? Then we have to bar the provincial buses," he said.

Chief of Staff Ricardo de Guzman of the mayor’s office presided over the meeting with Manila Police District Director Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay and Manila Traffic Police Chief Col. Rizaldy Yap to find the best way to re-route the buses in Vito Cruz.