Check worsening Metro traffic; don’t obstruct the view, please

ADDRESS Metro Manila’s traffic problem immediately and seriously, various concerned groups ask the government.

Help!!! “Stuck on you,” they cry.

*** The Solicitor General asks the Supreme Court to stop a real estate firm from obstructing and distracting the view of the Rizal Monument at the Luneta.

Translation: Don’t obstruct the view. Dont build your treasure at the expense of our national treasure.

The heavy traffic in Metro Manila should be solved now or it could worsen by about 150 percent – or from the current 2.4 billion a day in economic losses to 6 billion a day by 2030, warns Sen. Bam Aquino.

Traffic is costly and a bomb to be defused, says Bam.

Traffic in the metropolis has worsened due to increasing population growth (16.5 million), unrestricted volume of vehicles plying the streets, and failure to widen streets, among others, the senator and concerend groups note.

And if I may add, the failure of traffic cops to strictly enforce the law because of “tongpats” or “hatag,” Your Honors.

*** To help solve the problem, Aquino proposes a review of the ‘’Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development “to formulate effective strategies and solutions to address the negative economic impact of the worsening traffic conditions in Metro Manila.”

The chairman of the Senate Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship Committee, and Youth Committees, points out,” Commuters as well as private vehicle owners suffer the monstrous and extremely costly traffic every day in Metro Manila,”

Traffic could prove fatal, docotrs’ group warns. Huwag magpabaya!

*** Citing an earlier study made by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA),’the senator says, “Without intervention, traffic demand will likely increase by 13 percent in 2030, and transport cost will be 2.5 percent higher.”.

And the lower-income groups would be the hardest hit, Sen. Aquino adds.

Concerned government agencies and local government units must contribute to the crafting of effective planning strategies and traffic management systems in order to improve traffic conditions in Metro Manila, the senator suggests..

“The MMDA cannot solve the worsening traffic condition alone. The DPWH, Land Transportation Office (LTO), Land Transportation Franchising and Regulating Board (LTFRB), and the private sector must also do their share in solving the dilemma,” he adds.

Meanwhile, Solicitor General Florin Hilbay asks the Supreme Court to order property developer DM Consunji, Inc. (DMCI) Homes to stop and demolish the 49-story Torre de Manila condominium.

It ruins the “sightline” of the Rizal Monument and it was built with undue haste using invalid permits, Hilbay argues.

Hilbay asserts that the Rizal Monument in Luneta is part of the ‘cultural treasure of the nation’ and “there can be no doubt that of all the monuments of our national hero, it is primus inter pares. It is sui generis.”

First among equals and unique to be protected and preserved, Your Honora.

The SolGen adds that the Rizal monument is one of the most recognizable historic sites in the country and an almost mandatory stop for visitors from the provinces and tourists from abroad.

So still see you at the Luneta, folks!

The camps of “presidentiables” VP Binay, Sen. Grace Poe, and Sec. Mar Roxas (together with PNoy) recently converged by coincidence in Cebu City.

They must have caused “political traffic” and”saliva showers.”