An official of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines has made the dire prediction that Metro Manila may become uninhabitable within four years given the worsening rate of the traffic situation here.
The chamber’s senior advisor, John Forbes, told another newspaper that this could happen if roads and other infrastructure are not upgraded to catch up with growing number of privately owned cars in the metro.
In 2010, 168,000 units were sold. In 2014, there were 269,000 units. This year, experts say new car sales could reach 350,000 units. Forbes sees new car sales reaching 500,000 a year by 2020.
He did acknowledge that some roads were being improved across the country. The National Capital Region, however, needs more roads, given the projected surge in vehicle sales in the next few years.
Reacting to Forbes’ statement, Palace spokesman Herminio Coloma Jr. said the administration is determined to do what it takes to respond to the needs of the residents of the NCR and nearby areas. Coloma also cited the Metro Manila Dream Plan—a roadmap for transport infrastructure. The document was approved by the National Economic and Development Authority board in June 2014.
Coloma added that the roadmap seeks to: solve traffic congestion; prevent households from living in hazardous conditions; remove barriers for seamless mobility; eliminate the excessive cost burden for low-income groups; and prevent air pollution.
We wonder, however, how this administration, in its last few months in office, would be able to implement such a plan—with lofty targets, no less—when it should have begun with the work right after it took office?
But no—our leaders were in denial for a long time. In fact, President Aquino said traffic was an indicator of progress. His transport secretary dismissed the public’s woes as not fatal.
Only when the public outrage was so great that the palace admitted to the problem, finally.
Unfortunately, as a result of this belated enlightenment, the measures that should have been put in place years ago are only being contemplated today, when it is too late to accomplish anything beyond the superficial.
The good news is that, assuming Forbes knows much more than the rest of us, there are still four years between now and 2020. A new administration will be in power then. Our role as citizens is to be vociferous, and constantly—watching whether long-term traffic solutions like infrastructure development are being implemented, and calling our officials out when we see them still slacking off.
