Leni disagrees with Mar: Traffic not a sign of progress

MANILA, Philippines - Unlike Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas, his running mate Leni Robredo does not believe that traffic is a sign of progress.

“I don’t know about that – the more progressive a place is, the more there’s traffic – that’s not a justification not to address traffic,” Robredo said yesterday during a vice presidential forum organized by the National Alliance of Youth Leaders at the University of the Philippines in Diliman.

“I don’t think that’s a correct position. Yes, there’s progress but that’s no reason for traffic,” she added.

She said there should be an acceptance that there is a problem with traffic and the need for an efficient mass transport system.

“More progressive (countries) have less traffic. We may be not that progressive, but our traffic is worse,” she said.

Robredo admitted the Aquino administration has failed to address the problems in the mass transport system.

She said the administration has many achievements, except in mass transportation. She cited the recurring breakdown of the Metro Rail Transit 3 and the need to rehabilitate the Philippine National Railways.

Passing rate

Robredo gave the Aquino administration a passing grade of 7 to 8.

The worsening traffic jams, airport congestion and dilapidated commuter trains were among the issues raised against Roxas, who once headed the Department of Transportation and Communications.

Official estimates placed economic losses due to traffic jams at P3 billion a day.

Roxas had said solving the traffic problem and rehabilitating the mass transport system could not be done overnight.

Robredo said a vice president should neither be a spare tire nor harbor presidential ambitions. – With Robertzon Ramirez