PBBM Sets Traffic Summit To Solve Road Congestion

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has directed concerned national government agencies to hold a summit to find ways to solve perennial traffic woes.

The summit, titled “Bagong Pilipinas Townhall Meeting on Traffic Concerns,” will be held on April 10 at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City. I Photo: Patrickroque01 Wikimedia Commons

In an almost six-minute YouTube vlog, the president stated that the respective agencies, together with local government units, will discuss in detail the steps to be taken to address the traffic problem.

He also invited the public to take part in the discussions and forward their ideas and suggestions, even through the comment section during the summit.

The summit, titled “Bagong Pilipinas Townhall Meeting on Traffic Concerns,” will be held on April 10 at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

“We cannot deny that traffic in the Philippines is well-known and notorious around the world,” the president lamented. According to the traffic index of the digital navigation site TomTom, Metro Manila had the worst traffic congestion among metro areas of the world last year.

Also, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) released in 2018 a study indicating that traffic congestion in Metro Manila is costing the Philippines P3.5 billion a day.

The president emphasized that long-term infrastructure projects such as bridges, flyovers, skyways, subways, and train systems, which could address the traffic problem, are underway.

He added that developing and improving mobility in Metro Manila’s nearby provinces such as Bulacan, Pampanga, Laguna, and Cavite is among the priority actions for this concern.

He also acknowledged that flexible work arrangements such as work-from-home setups and four-day workweek schemes, which he said proved effective when these were utilized by the private sector here and abroad during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, can help address the traffic situation.

The government is still looking to provide commuters and motorists immediate relief from traffic congestion, the chief executive stressed. Meanwhile, he appealed to the commuters and motorists to observe discipline and obey traffic laws.

The president highlighted that what Filipinos lack the most on the road is discipline. He insisted that the people must follow the traffic rules.

He underscored that the new Filipino is disciplined, obeys the traffic laws, gives way to others, and above all, does not act as if he owns the road. President Marcos declared, “Together, we can conquer Metro Manila’s traffic situation.”

WEEKLY FEATURE : Jose Mari Chan And The Christmas Anthem