Date night for Marcos, first lady at Coldplay concert

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and First Lady Marie Louise “Liza” Araneta-Marcos joined thousands of fans who attended the Coldplay “Music of the Spheres” concert at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan Friday night.

This was confirmed by Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil after a photo of Marcos at the concert venue was circulated on social media.

Both the President and the first lady were captured by other concertgoers wearing white in the VIP gallery.

This was not the first time that the first couple went to a concert together since Marcos assumed office in 2022.

In November last year, the Marcoses attended the concert of American singersongwriter Daryl Hall in Pasay City.

The first lady posted a photo of their “date night” on her Facebook page, which received positive comments from their supporters.

Aside from the President and the first lady, several politicians also watched the first night of the concert, including Muntinlupa Mayor Ruffy Biazon and Quezon City Rep. Arjo Atayde.

Coldplay was in the Philippines for the January 19-20 concert.

It was initially a one-day event, but another night was added due to an overwhelming demand from fans, days after confirming Coldplay’s return to Manila.

The renowned British band held its first concert in the Philippines in 2017 at the Mall of Asia Concert Grounds in Pasay City. It featured a mix of the band’s old and new hits—from “Yellow” to “A Head Full of Dreams.”

Meanwhile, the President was seen on video laughing and covering his face when Coldplay frontman Chris Martin called

out the traffic condition in the country.

As the concert drew to a close, Martin thanked the audience for braving the traffic to watch Coldplay.

“We’d like to say thank you so much to all of you for coming through the traffic. Holy s**t!” he said, as the crowd erupted into laughs and cheers.

“We’ve seen some traffic, but I think you have the number one in the world. So, thank you for making the effort to come through all of that bullsh*t to be here,” Martin added.

As of press time on Saturday, traffic across the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) had reached 2.5 to 3 kilometers, with speeds below 50 kilometers per hour (kph).

A live feed of the NLEX Corp. on Facebook reported a major buildup in the Balintawak Toll Plaza 2.5 km long.

After the plaza into the NLEx Harbor link interchange, travel speed was from 10 to 20 kph because of an “increased volume of vehicles.”

At the Northbound portion of the interchange, the traffic buildup reached 2.5 km, while the area headed to Meycauayan, Bulacan, had a travel speed of approximately 20 to 30 kph.

The NLEX Corp. sent patrol teams to manage the traffic situation.

Metro Manila was reported to have the worst traffic in metro areas in the world, according to the TomTom Traffic Index.

The Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority vowed to fast-track road projects to ease the congestion.