Heavy traffic along NLEX westbound (going to Manila) and A. Bonifacio highway in Quezon City due to one lane truck policy.
EDWIN BACASMAS
MANILA, Philippines—A Malacañang official on Saturday apologized for the monster gridlock on the southbound lane of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and on the roads leading to the Port of Manila last Friday, saying the government was exploring ways to ease traffic in Metro Manila.
“We apologize for the major traffic congestion. Our monitoring showed that by 3 a.m. on Saturday, the traffic on NLEX had already been fixed,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said over government-run Radyo ng Bayan.
Asked if the heavy traffic would negate the economic achievements the government has been flaunting, Lacierda said the traffic should not affect the conduct of business.
“Traffic, in a sense, also indicates the type of economy that we’re experiencing right now. But as much as it is a sign of a growing economy, we also need and we recognize the need to make sure that traffic does not impede the flow of business productivity. And for that particular reason, we are looking at measures to alleviate traffic in Metro Manila,” Lacierda said.
He said the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has conducted a study on the “loss of business due to traffic, and for that particular reason, we have been studying these measures, how do we alleviate traffic, especially in Metro Manila and the NCR (National Capital Region) area?”
Lacierda said solutions to the traffic mess include prohibiting provincial buses from entering Metro Manila and going after illegal or “colorum” vehicles.
He said that the number coding scheme of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has also helped in easing traffic congestion.
Poor MRT service
Added to the problem of traffic is the deteriorating Metro Rail Transit (MRT) service with commuters queuing for hours just to get on a train. The MRT has also been hounded by accidents the past months.
The state of public transportation, particularly the MRT, is now the subject of a Senate investigation.
The heavy traffic has also been blamed on the truck ban imposed by Metro Manila’s local governments. The truck ban of the Manila city government, in particular, has resulted in congestion at the Port of Manila as truckers cannot get all their containers out.
With the port congestion already affecting the economy, Malacañang gave owners of the containers and truckers two weeks to remove their container vans from the Manila port. But this resulted in a massive truck movement that led to heavy traffic.
“The source of the traffic… is because of the port congestion where the trucks are now really moving their empty containers,” Lacierda said.
Traffic at the NLEX southbound returned to normal on Saturday.
As of 2:57 p.m., NLEX Traffic reported that both northbound and southbound traffic were “fast moving.” It earlier reported that southbound traffic at 12:57 a.m. had already been light and then returned to heavy from 5:20 a.m. to around 9 a.m., starting at 500 meters from the Balintawak-Cloverleaf and eventually stretching 1.7 kilometers from there, which prompted the NLEX management to conduct counterflow operations.
To prevent a repeat of Friday’s horrendous traffic particularly near the Port of Manila, authorities announced on Saturday the activation of Task Force Pantalan, the opening of counterflow points and the deployment of around 200 MMDA personnel to the area.
Task force formed
In a press briefing, MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino said the task force—composed of the MMDA, the National Capital Region Police Office and affected local government units—will oversee traffic operations “from (NLEX)-Camachile to R10 Del Pan.”
He said the task force headed by Chief Supt. Allen Bantolo, NCRPO deputy director for operations, and Cris Saruca, chief of the MMDA’s Traffic Discipline Office, would remain activated for the next two weeks during which the port would be decongested.
According to Tolentino, the authorities have also opened counterflow points to ease traffic near the port.
“On NLEX, let’s start with Camachile. Camachile is three kilometers from the (Balintawak) toll plaza. Private vehicles and buses will be allowed to exit to Camachile until Sept. 21 going to Monumento,” he said.
He said counterflow to exit to Balintawak would also be allowed underneath A. Bonifacio as the need arises.
He said there was also a pending request with NLEX authorities for the deactivation of a toll plaza in Balintawak going to the north so it could be used as a counterflow on a permanent basis by private vehicles. With a report from Noli Ermitanio
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