Catch up

If we are to believe official pronouncements, there is a flurry of government infrastructure projects going on all over the country, the bulk of which are concentrated in Metro Manila. In fact, 15 major infrastructure projects spread across Metro Manila are lined up to start on various dates this year, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Aside from the DPWH, other government agencies are also undertaking their respective infrastructure projects with the private sector under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program of President Benigno “Noy” Aquino III. With less than three years left in the Aquino administration, many of the PPP projects formally launched in March 2011 are finally taking off.   

Actually, this development is both good news and bad news for us Filipinos. The good news is that these construction projects will mean not only improvements in our country’s existing infrastructure system but will also create new jobs and income for the people. With jobless rate in the Philippines reaching as high as 7 percent, or seven of every 100 Filipinos unemployed, these infrastructure projects would definitely address the twin problems of unemployment and poverty in the country.

Despite the “robust” economic growth reported in the past two years, the Aquino administration has been grappling with a situation of “jobless growth” in the country. President Aquino had to convene last week a full Cabinet meeting at Malacañang reportedly to look into this jobless growth that threatens to frustrate his promised “inclusive growth” for all Filipinos by the end of his term.

The downside of this massive infrastructure development is the resulting dislocation and displacement these projects will bring about as they take place simultaneously all over the country.

Of the 15 projects slated in the national capital region that includes Metro Manila, construction work has already started on the Skyway 3 and NAIA Expressway Phase 2 projects. The rest of the projects will soon follow suit with completion dates slated for 2016.

Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Francis Tolentino warned this early about the developing nightmarish traffic gridlocks as a consequence of these infrastructure projects. Tolentino admitted motorists and commuters as well have no choice but to brace themselves for more traffic woes before it gets any better.

Other projects to start soon their respective scheduled construction dates in the coming months in Metro Manila are, namely: the Gil Puyat-Makati Avenue-Paseo de Roxas underpass; Sta. Monica-Lawton Avenue bridge; CP Garcia Avenue-McKinley Hill ramp; repair and asphalt overlay of Magallanes Interchange; EDSA-Taft Avenue flyover; MRT Line 3/ LRT Line 1 extension common station; LRT Line 2 East extension up to Masinag; LRT Line 1 Extension (Cavite); EDSA- Roosevelt Ave. interchange; España Avenue-Lacson Avenue interchange; repair and rehabilitation and improvement of South Superhighway Makati; the NLEX-SLEX connector road; and the EDSA-West Avenue-North Avenue interchange.

Per estimation of MMDA chief, motorists and commuters alike will feel the time-crunching traffic jams come the last quarter of this year once these major infrastructure projects in Metro Manila start and go full blast all at the same time.

One of the ongoing DPWH projects is the NAIA Expressway Phase 2 where an eight-lane elevated expressway, including the ramps, is being built from Sales Avenue going to Andrews Avenue, to Domestic Road going to MIA Road and end at Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard and Entertainment City. The project aims to connect Terminals 1, 2 and 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

With the former five-lane NAIA road reduced to three lanes, traffic flow has been constricted further. Since it’s an airport route, motorists have to share the reduced road space with taxicabs and commuter vehicles bringing in and fetching airport passengers.

Left with no other option or alternative route — which of course is longer route and more gasoline waste – I have sort of gotten used and adapted to this slow grind of traffic. Either I just browse through Twitter and Facebook to monitor news or watch a movie on my i-Pad rather than lose my patience and sanity over traffic gridlock. Or better yet, sleep it out.

But that adaptation is only applicable if you are just a passenger. Driving in such horrendous traffic requires longer patience. And how about the commuters who take public utility jeepneys or buses?

Yesterday, the MMDA chief announced plans to hire additional 400 traffic aides to cope with the staggering expected traffic jams. Tolentino disclosed about 2,000 MMDA traffic enforcers are now deployed to manage vehicular traffic especially in the vicinities of construction projects.

Obviously, many of these construction projects under the PPP have been delayed and remained in the pipeline for a time already. Several of these PPP projects have been entangled in controversial bidding “war” problems.

Bidding in government projects here is like running in elections: nobody loses because they were cheated. At times, the problem lies with the government agency that declares failure of bidding for the slightest reason.

Another cause of delay in the implementation of these projects is the tendency of Aquino officials to see corruption at every nook and cranny. Aquino administration officials seem to have the monopoly of uprightness that everybody else is a crook and out to make quick money from government projects.

Infrastructure projects are looked upon as concrete evidence for the Filipino people to see and feel to judge this administration’s accomplishments. And Metro Manila is the country’s political capital where such accomplishments of the President are measured.

With the timetable within which to complete all these infrastructure projects limited, administration officials got the marching orders to make sure when P-Noy steps down from office, the Chief Executive will still enjoy two-digit public approval rating. With P-Noy’s term ending in June 2016 just around the corner, the Aquino administration is on catch-up mode.