MANILA, Philippines — Even Coldplay frontman Chris Martin managed to find the funny side of Metro Manila, known for its horrendous traffic.
The British pop-rock band was back in the Philippines after seven years for its "Music of the Spheres" world tour at the Philippine Arena, which is around 30 kilometers from the country's capital.
Apart from its distance from the city, the venue has been notorious for its parking scheme, which has cars jammed getting into and out of the expressway, only to meet the regular heavy Manila traffic.
During the encore part of the concert, Coldplay performed "Sparks" on a makeshift stage in the middle of the crowd where Chris thanked the opening act Jikamarie, the concert crew, the arena workers, and everyone who braved the traffic.
"Thank you to all of you for coming through the traffic. Holy sh*t!" remarked Chris, breaking into laughter with the crowd.
"I think... We've seen some traffic, but I think you have the number one [worst traffic] in the world. So, thank you, thank you for making the effort to come through all that bulls**t to be here!" Chris exclaimed.
Related: Traffic index: 25 mins, 30 secs to travel 10 kms in Metro Manila
The singer is not far off with his observation, as a recent traffic index by transportation data company TomTom Traffic called Metro Manila the worst in metro traffic worldwide.
According to the index, drivers in Metro Manila spent an average of 25 minutes and 30 seconds to travel 10 kilometers in 2023, the slowest among the 387 metro areas included in the study.
The same report said an average driver in Metro Manila spent 240 hours on the road last year, including 117 hours due to traffic congestion.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, however, questioned the methodology of the study.
It did not deny, though, that Metro Manila has an enormous problem when it comes to extreme traffic because of record-high private vehicle sales, road repairs and government flagship projects. — with reports by Janvic Mateo and James Relativo
RELATED: MMDA questions int'l study calling Metro Manila the 'worst in traffic' worldwide