The “parking lot” that is Edsa during rush hour. (File photo by NIÑO JESUS ORBETA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte’s promise for a “smooth sailing” five-minute travel time from Cubao in Quezon City to Makati by December 2019 may have not come into fruition, but that doesn’t mean it cannot be done in the remaining years of his administration.
This was presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo’s assertion Sunday when asked about the President’s promise.
“Alam mo ‘yung pangako, depende ‘yun sa mga factors or kalakaran na magbibigay prutas doon sa kanyang pangako. Kung hindi natupad yung mga kalakaran na ‘yon, if those conditions were not present, hindi pa magaganap yun,” Panelo told Radyo Inquirer in an interview.
(His promise depends on certain factors which will give fruition to his promise. If those factors were not met, if those conditions were not present, then the promise will not be fulfilled.)
“At hindi ibig-sabihin na kung hindi naganap ngayong taon, hindi na magaganap hanggang sa matapos ang kanyang termino,” he added.
(And that doesn’t mean that if that didn’t happen this year, it wouldn’t happen until his term expires.)
Panelo, however, did not elaborate on the supposed “factors” he was referring to.
Asked if the government is still hoping to deliver on Duterte’s promise, Panelo said: “Hangga’t may buhay ay may pag-asa (As long as there is life, there is hope).”
The President first issued the promise in March during a campaign rally of the ruling PDP-Laban party in the province of Isabela.
Last June, Duterte reiterated the promise and said that Cubao to Makati could soon be a “smooth-sailing” five-minute travel, a route which usually takes almost an hour through Edsa, which is one of the major traffic chokepoints in Metro Manila.