Flash transit still in cards

If it did not happen this year, it doesn’t mean that it would not happen until his term ends.

In June, to much disbelief of his critics, President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to realize a five-minute travel between Cubao and Makati by the end of the year.

Intervening events, however, made the pledge impossible to attain, for now, according to presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo.

It does not mean that the President is reneging on his pledge since it will be attained under the current administration, he stressed.

“If it did not happen this year, it doesn’t mean that it would not happen until his term ends,” according to the top aide.

“As long as there is life, there is hope,” Panelo added when questioned if Duterte can still deliver on his promise.

Sympathizing with commuters due to crippling traffic jams in Metro Manila, the President ordered on 10 December concerned state agencies, including the Department of Transportation, to introduce innovations to ease traffic congestion.

The government’s ambitious “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program is seen as a solution to address the traffic congestion in Metro Manila.

Some 38 of the 100 flagship projects are targeted to be completed by the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term in 2022, according to Bases Conversion and Development Authority president and chief executive officer Vivencio Dizon.

“You just wait. Things will improve. Maybe God-willing, December it will all be smooth sailing,” said Duterte.

“You don’t have to worry about traffic. Cubao and Makati is just about five minutes only,” added the President, who hinted China will play a role in realizing the fast travel between Quezon City and Makati.

Via the 24-kilometer long EDSA, the most traffic bedevilled road in the Philippines, Cubao to Buendia stretches to about 11 kilometers, with road travel estimated by Google Maps to take about 44 minutes.

Travel app Waze’s September 2019 data also revealed that it took 4.9 minutes to drive one kilometer in the Philippine capital.

The Duterte administration has several major infrastructure undertakings seen to decongest traffic flow including the Metro Manila Skyway Stage (MMSS3) and the North Luzon Expressway-South Luzon Expressway (NLEX-SLEX) Connector Road Project.

When completed, the MMSS3 will run for 17.38 kilometers as an elevated expressway from Gil Puyat Avenue in Makati City to NLEX in Balintawak, Quezon City.

According to the Department of Public Works and Highways, the MMSS3 viaduct will connect the SLEX and NLEX, thereby decongesting main thoroughfares in the metropolis by as many as 50,000 cars.

In a radio interview, Panelo said the President’s pledge may not materialize this year due to the “conditions” that were not met.

Panelo did not elaborate on the supposed conditions that were set to address the perennial traffic problems in Metro Manila, specifically along Edsa, the metropolis’ busiest highway.

“Well, you know, his promise depends on the factors and trends that will give fruition to it,” the Palace official said.

When he assumed the presidency, Mr. Duterte’s allies suggested that Congress grants him emergency powers to solve the daily gridlock but Senator Grace Poe blocked the move as she said that the extra powers will be used for corruption in exempting projects from public auction.

In turn, Mr. Duterte felt aggrieved by Poe’s insinuation of irregularities in the proposal to solve the daily road congestion.

From then on, the President rejected initiatives in Congress to grant him powers.

“If those trends were not met because those conditions are not present, the promise would not yet be fulfilled,” he added.

An average of 405,882 vehicles ply Edsa every day, as of August 2019, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority earlier reported.