Press Release
August 15, 2018

ANGARA JOINS CALL TO PROVIDE EFFECTIVE LONG-TERM SOLUTION TO EDSA TRAFFIC

Senator Sonny Angara has joined the call of the Senate leaders to suspend the implementation of the driver-only ban in EDSA, and to provide for real solutions to Metro Manila traffic congestion.

"Effective solutions should be long-term. The only way we can give Filipinos freedom from traffic is by improving our public transportation. Hanggat walang magandang sistema ng mass transit, dadami at dadami ang sasakyan," Angara said.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Senate Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Majority Floor Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Minority Floor Leader Franklin Drilon have co-authored Senate Resolution 845, which urges the Metro Manila Council to recall MMDA Regulation No. 18-005 "Establishing the Expanded High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes in EDSA."

A Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) study revealed that the worsening traffic in Metro Manila now costs P3.5 billion in lost opportunities per day.

"Bukod sa negatibong epekto nito sa ekonomiya, inaagaw din ng matinding traffic ang oras na para sana sa ating mga anak at pamilya," the senator said.

He further stressed that if public transport is not drastically improved, such missed economic opportunities will replicate in big cities in Visayas and Mindanao like Metro Cebu and Cagayan de Oro.

"To address the transportation crisis, the government is now taking steps such as the planned subway for Metro Manila. However, traffic is not just a Metro Manila disease but one which has spread all over the country. The government should look beyond NCR in applying cures to this crisis," he added.

Angara authored Senate Bill 1568 or the Sustainable Transportation Act which seeks to create transportation demand management programs that will reduce the volume of cars in the roads. The program shall include carpooling, telecommuting, transport program for government employees, bus rapid transit system, water ferry system, among others.

The senator noted that while there's a steady increase in the number of motor vehicles in the country, the capacity of roads and mass transport systems is still the same, or worse, deteriorating.

"The bias in favor of cars as the main means of transport has to be reversed in the coming years and decades. Umookupa ng malaking bahagi ng kalye ang mga pribadong sasakyan na kakaunti lang naman ang sakay kumpara sa mga tren, bus o jeepney.

"A former mayor of Bogota, Columbia once said that 'a developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It's where the rich use public transport.' We should aim for this," Angara said.

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