Metro Manila traffic: A national security concern

The solution to Metro Manila traffic should not only factor in the problems of today but also the problems to be encountered in the future.

In 1970, as a freshman student at what was then an all-male school, De La Salle College at Taft Avenue, I would finish my morning class at 11:50 a.m. I would walk to the parking lot beside the school (this is the area now occupied by McDonald’s), drive home to Greenhills, have lunch, take a short nap, freshen up, and drive back to school in time for my 2 p.m. class.

To students of what is now a coeducational institution, De La Salle University, this would seem to have been in a land far, far away, and at a time long, long ago. To get from Taft Avenue to Greenhills alone today would take an hour to an hour and a half. On a bad day and bad time, even two hours. This is all because of traffic.

If there is one thing people living and working in Metro Manila uniformly complain about, it is traffic. At school, office, meetings and gatherings where you have people coming from different areas, there is the invariable complaint “sobra ang traffic (Traffic is bad).” Unfortunately, it has become a way of life in Metro Manila.

The results of a survey of a property services company found that nearly half of working professionals in Metro Manila are considering living in a dormitory to avoid traffic jams. Several commuting workers are supposedly on the road for more than three hours for a one-way trip.

The Asian Development Bank recently ranked Metro Manila as the most congested major city in developing Asia. Navigation software app Waze is again likely to rate it as the world’s worst city for drivers.

In a report made early last year, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said the worsening traffic in Metro Manila costs P3.5 billion in lost opportunities per day. Though the National Economic and Development Authority Board’s Committee on Infrastructure said the economic cost of Metro Manila traffic will be reduced to P2.13 billion per day in 2022 (once the government’s infrastructure projects are done), it still is a considerable amount.

Metro Manila traffic has also been a cause of death, as some patients in ambulances are unable to get to the hospital in time due to congestion in the streets.

Recently, there was this debate on whether there was a traffic crisis in Metro Manila or whether it was simply a problem. There was even this former high-ranking government official who several years ago said that traffic was “not fatal.”

To the citizens who have to endure the daily traffic of Metro Manila, words do not matter. Traffic and the daily commute are an ordeal that cause so much difficulty, the loss of so much productive time, and is simply a heavy burden to the people who have to shuttle to and from work. It is in this light that we can say that Metro Manila traffic is already a national security concern.

The National Defense College of the Philippines operationally defines national security as the state or condition wherein the people’s way of life and institutions, their territorial integrity and sovereignty, including their well-being, are protected and enhanced. The horrendous traffic situation definitely adversely affects our way of life and well-being. There are considerable economic, social, environmental, and reputational costs, more so since it is happening in the country’s capital. Thus, it is a national security concern.

To be clear, it is not that government is not doing anything. In fact, several government agencies are really working hard to help solve the traffic problem. The Inter-Agency Council on Traffic (I-ACT) is focusing on five “Es” of traffic management: enforcement, education, environment, engineering and economics. All of the possible studies that will improve traffic are already on the table.

However, given the fact that traffic is still very bad, it is clear that much more work will have to be done. There is no single silver bullet to solve Metro Manila’s traffic problems. It will take several magazines of silver bullets to eliminate the myriad causes of the problem.

The solution to Metro Manila traffic should not only factor in the problems of today but also the problems to be encountered in the future. The Philippine Statistics Authority projects our population to reach 142 million by 2045, which is roughly 25 years from now. Our infrastructure and other systems must be built with that view in mind.

Given the preceding, it might be in the national interest to have a permanent government office focused and devoted solely to studying the causes of traffic, finding ways of solving it, and proactively preventing it. This office will look at the traffic problem strategically. It will look at traffic today and the decades to come, not only in Metro Manila but all over the country. This will not be an added layer in the bureaucracy since it will concentrate on traffic and not duplicate the work of other agencies.

Everyone wants to solve the traffic problem. This government has shown political will to do things it believes should be done. The private sector has shown its willingness and capability to undertake projects that will improve the traffic situation. Working together, we should be able to solve this problem.

It is all in the interest of national security.