Metro Manila has consistently clinched the top spot for having the worst traffic congestion among metro areas in the world. In fact, one study even suggests that out of 387 cities across 55 countries, it registers the longest average travel time to traverse a 10-kilometer route. During rush hour or that time with the highest congestion, the situation is further exacerbated as it has the slowest average speed by a wide margin compared to other cities.

This is why traveling from one place to another is an ordeal. My own office, for instance, is just six kilometers from where I live. Yet, going home is very stressful. Now that it is the Christmas season, the condition is even worse. Just the other day, the traffic was so bad that by the time I got home, I finished watching an episode of Game of Thrones and also figured out the meaning of life.

Traffic here is so slow and heavy that people even sell bonsai plants on the streets. These small trees are not necessarily impulse purchase. So the fact they sell them means motorists and commuters have all the time in the world. Only in the Philippines, indeed.

Last week, I volunteered to take my cousin to the airport since he’s going to Japan. By the time he reached Tokyo, there I was in EDSA, still stuck in traffic.

To be honest, there’s quite a plethora of reasons why traffic congestion seems to be getting heavier as the years progress. Foremost of which is our crippling population density currently pegged at 1,100 people per square kilometer. Another is the lack of an efficient mass transport system, which certainly makes life difficult for millions of commuters and even motorists who are forced to buy their own vehicles just to survive this urban jungle.

Ultimately though, the real culprit is corruption. For instance, let us talk about vehicle volume in Metro Manila, which is amongst the highest in the world. No amount of volume reduction schemes like color coding can address this problem. The only way you can remedy this is by discouraging people to buy vehicles. Yet we cannot seem to do that since cars here are relatively cheap. Why? Because Congress is unable to pass a law that would impose higher luxury tax on those items, the reason being our lawmakers are beholden to car manufacturers. In fact, there’s so much lobby money allegedly released every time Congress takes this measure up.

In Singapore or Hong Kong, for example, you need to be rich for you to be able to buy a regular car. Here, anyone can buy two or three if only to avoid our color coding system. So with the huge number of vehicles that pass our major roadways, there’s no way the government can manage traffic, particularly if left in the hands of our corrupt traffic enforcers.

Then there’s EDSA. Unlike other major highways in the world, it holds the distinction of having the most number of big malls and condominium buildings literally situated along the wayside. In other countries, malls are located far from the main road and residential places are located in the suburbs and not inside the central business district in order to decongest. Here, these constructions are allowed in major thoroughfares because the concerned local government units allow them. And we all know the reason why.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what should be done to respond to our traffic woes. But corruption gets in the way, sadly.