CBCP exec dismayed over Mar's comments on traffic

MANILA, Philippines — An official of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) chastised on Tuesday outgoing Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas II for attributing the worsening traffic situation in the country to economic growth.

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, CBCP president, was reacting to a recent speech given by Roxas, the Liberal Party standard-bearer in the 2016 election, at the annual national convention of Philippine Sugar Technologists Association Incorporated in Cebu City.

Archbishop Palma said Roxas should correlate the traffic snarls in the country, particularly in Metro Manila, to economic growth.

"Some people think that traffic is a sign of a booming economy. We do not deny that in some sense, it is really growing. But then traffic is traffic, and we should be aware that a lot of people are distressed," the bishop told Catholic-run Radyo Veritas.

"There should be a way to solve the traffic, other than dismiss it as if it is a good sign, that because of the good economy, we have traffic,"he added.

In his speech, Roxas mentioned the increase of the number of vehicles on the streets by 260,000 in 2014.

Based on the study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency in 2014, around P2.2 billion daily is lost to traffic congestion in the country.

The Land Transportation Office figures, meanwhile, showed the continuous registration of new motor vehicles every day, with Metro Manila increasing by 100,000 vehicle registrations in 2013.