Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said Thursday the horrendous traffic in Metro Manila is a sign that the Philippines is progressing and that the economy is on the right track.
He justified the gridlock by saying there is traffic all over the world.
“It’s no excuse, but the irony is that traffic is also a product of your own success,” Cayetano said.
“First of all, not only the Philippines has heavy traffic but there is traffic all over the world.”
He said when the economy is good the people will have money to buy motor vehicles, and in the Philippines more than half of these will end up in Metro Manila.
That is why the government is investing in a subway system, a new railway system, a monorail, and a Bus Rapid Transport system, he said.
In the Senate, Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said he wants to legalize motorcycles for hire to address Metro Manila’s chaotic traffic.
He said the traffic in Metro Manila is getting worse by the day, and that the mass transit systems are constantly breaking down and many commuters are left with no choice but to use motorcycles for hire to get from point A to point B.
“Commuting in Metro Manila has become very challenging,” Angara said.
Cayetano said while the government is investing in several transport systems in Metro Manila to ease the horrendous traffic, worse traffic is to be expected with the influx of workers hired to build infrastructure projects.
Speaking to reporters at the New Clark City in Clark Field, Pampanga, Cayetano said many of the Build, Build, Build projects scheduled for implementation are in the metropolis, so the influx of workers should be expected.
“The Build, Build, Build is a work in progress now in Metro Manila,” he said.
“Unfortunately, most of these projects have to be planned from scratch by this administration [like the] subway, [if there is already a plan]… remember that the C-5, by the time it was implemented by President Cory Aquino, it was 10 to 15 years in the making.” With Macon Ramos-Araneta