MANILA, Philippines — Presidential bets on Sunday proposed a litany of recommendations when asked what sort of infrastructure projects would solve the longstanding problem of traffic in Metro Manila.
At the CNN Philippines presidential debate Sunday evening, candidates were asked: How do you justify building more roads for Filipinos who have grown weary of traffic?
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Pre-coronavirus, labor and transport groups tagged the country's traffic situation as a mass transportation crisis, with long lines and technical malfunctions being commonplace in the daily lives of Filipino commuters.
Manny Pacquiao
The senator answered the question first. His answer: More roads and skyways to decongest traffic.
"It's important to build skyways to get rid of traffic," Pacquiao said, though he did not explain how.
Pacquiao, who chairs the Senate public works committee, said development through work instead of words is what is needed.
"We need more common sense to our problems and genuine love," he said. "I get frustrated that we have hearings but after three years nothing will change...it's full of promises and plans."
Leni Robredo
The vice president started by pointing to the data: households that rely on public transportation outnumber those that have their own private vehicles.
This is a fact: Per data from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, 88% or almost nine out of ten households in Metro Manila do not own private vehicles and have to rely on public transportation.
She said that the government should pour more funds into active and public transportation, pointing to surveys by the Social Weather Station which showed that at least 85% of adults think that "roads in Philippine cities and municipalities will be better off if public transportation, bicycles, and pedestrians are given priority over public vehicles."
"The pandemic exacerbated the problem...so many of our people were stranded," she said. "We want people to get to their destinations at the least cost and the most convenient way...infrastructure should also put more emphasis on rural development."
"Many are on bicycles today, many want to walk, but our roads aren't ready for it," she added.
Panfilo Lacson
The senator praised the Duterte administration's flagship "Build, Build, Build" infrastructure campaign, saying the ongoing Metro Manila Subway would boost public transportation.
"It's about time we shift from 'Build, Build, Build' to public-private partnerships," he said, however, adding that rural development would create jobs in the countryside and decongest Metro Manila's roads.
He added that the infrastructure funds should be downloaded to local government units to plan out their own localized infrastructure initiatives and programs.
"It's time to empower our local government units with centrally-controlled infrastructure," he said.
Urban planners and transport economists have long contested the idea that building or widening roads can lessen traffic, pointing to the concept of induced demand.
In road infrastructure, induced demand happens when increased roadway capacity encourages more people to drive, and consequently fails to improve congestion—sometimes even worsening it. In some cases, new roads essentially create more traffic instead of lessening it. — Franco Luna