Real road rage

Building skyways is not a solution to the country’s transport problems, cause-oriented groups have indicated.

Concerned groups have banded together to call for San Miguel Corp. (SMC) to end the company’s obsession with huge toll projects that benefit the few and result in effects that are detrimental to the majority of commuters and pedestrians, much more the environment.

Even those who use the Skyway often complain of the quality of the road and the often defective toll system.

SMC recently abandoned the Pasig River Expressway (Parex) but is proceeding with the bigger Southern Access Link Expressway, which would integrate Metro Manila shoreline roads with the Metro Manila Skyway.

It will be built around the Manila Port Area, Intramuros, and the Hospicio de San Jose in Manila near the Pasig River.

SMC is also working on an 88-kilometer Cavite-Batangas Expressway and the Nasugbu-Bauan Expressway with Metro Pacific Investment Corp.

The toll roads will traverse Silang, Amadeo, Tagaytay, Indang, Mendez, and Alfonso in Cavite and will take motorists to Nasugbu and Bauan in Batangas.

SMC recently said it would drop the PAREX, but it remains a listed and approved government project.

PAREX and SALEX threaten the city of Manila. SALEX, for instance, will pass through the heart of South Manila's cultural and heritage areas. SMC cited public pressure to junk the multi-billion-peso road project.

The Asian conglomerate has also been targeted for accountability by ecology groups for the “pillage” of the environment and the harm caused to people as well.

In Batangas, fishers and communities have long expressed their objection to SMC’s subsidiary Excellent Energy Resources Inc. and its 1.75-GW liquefied natural gas power plant.

The Protect Verde Island Passage (Protect VIP) project poses a grave threat to the marine passage, which is considered the center of marine shore fish biodiversity worldwide. It also poses further risks and affects the livelihood of communities that depend on it.

Several complaints to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources have sought the suspension of the ECC for the project, but these have fallen on deaf ears.

Road projects are already paid for through taxes, and building tollways is a duplication.

Infrastructure giants are given control over large tracts of public land and space to generate profits through pay-for-access expressways and bridges. In contrast, public roads have no space to expand and are left to deteriorate.

People are, in effect, compelled to pay for the conveniences while continuing to pay taxes to a state that has abandoned all responsibility to provide them with basic services.

A better alternative is to build railways and other modes of mass transport.

Public resources and spaces are being wantonly used to construct roads that increase the demand for private vehicles, which will only lead to increased air pollution, road traffic, and floods, according to urban planners.

Residents and workers of Metro Manila and other key cities across the Philippines are caught in the propensity for profit-driven construction.

Skyways are tangible proof of an administration’s achievement, but those with good knowledge of urban development do not consider them an effective solution to congested roads.

Instead, they only encourage those with the means to buy more vehicles, which adds up to a bigger headache for motorists and the public in the future.