Cruel

Everyday, this past week, we received sometimes conflicting instructions about the use of EDSA when the rehabilitation begins. These instructions involve odd-even schemes, number-coding windows, electric vehicle exemptions and many more.

To this day, I remain confused. I am sure many motorists are too, notwithstanding all the charts merciful citizens have provided through social media.

In one such chart, it appears I can use my car only once each week. On all other days, I suppose, the only remedy is to book TNVS service to go about my business. Demand for that service will be greater once the “rehabilitation” begins.

What we are not told is if this rehabilitation of Metro Manila’s most vital roadway will result in more road space for motorists. Will it cure, for instance, the bottleneck caused by the three Cubao underpasses that often require an hour to negotiate?

EDSA has been a heartache for those who need to use it. For years, we endured intermittent “road reblocking” of the avenue. I live in the vicinity of the cluttered “central station,” a project that is over 15 years delayed. The bottleneck there is nearly a permanent feature.

The Balintawak cloverleaf is a classic in myopic engineering. Northbound, it is always choked by the volume of vehicles trying to get to NLEX – or those exiting from A. Bonifacio. Southbound, the wet market produces chaos at all hours.

From where I live, going south to the Ortigas area or north towards Caloocan always challenges my ability to manage my own time. The Cubao and Balintawak bottlenecks are always unpredictable.

The past few years, the only solace drivers enjoy (if they can afford it) is the Skyway. It allows Quezon City residents a way to travel south with more predictable travel times.

San Miguel spent years convincing government this project is needed. After so many delays, this inestimable convenience was finally built. Now, the architects of the EDSA rehab are pressuring San Miguel to offer the tollway for free. That means the Skyway will be as congested as EDSA is.

The tollway is a capital-intensive facility. San Miguel needs revenue from its operation to pay down its debts. Unless government is assuming the toll revenue, this will cost the corporation hugely. It basically amounts to commandeering private assets.

This is not the only cost private enterprises will be forced to bear. Businesses along Edsa will suffer. Commuters will invest more of their days trying to get to work.

The most consoling thing government can do is to promise 24/7 work on the rehab. This will still cause pain, but it will be endured for a shorter period. I have not heard anyone making that commitment.

Given recent experiences, I am not confident the rehab can be done in two years. If government takes its time on this, the project will constitute cruel and unusual punishment for the people of Metro Manila.

Cooperation

Makati mayor-elect Nancy Binay expressed interest in better cooperation with Taguig to better serve the population of the 10 Enlisted Men’s Barrios (EMBOs) that were transferred to the adjacent city. Taguig mayor Lani Cayetano expressed the same interest in cooperation. This is good news for the affected citizens who felt neglected since the transfer.

The Supreme Court has ruled with finality on the transfer of the 10 densely populated barangays from Makati to Taguig. There is no other legal recourse. The deed is done. In the last elections, the 10 EMBOs voted as residents of Taguig.

Although the transfer of the EMBOs is final, it took quite a while for Makati to get over the ruling. It is Makati, of course, that lost assets as a consequence — assets invested in over many years. The city’s medical center and university are in the affected area and there remain claims to be settled. The transferred barangays were considered the bailiwick of the Binay dynasty.

One particularly sad casualty of the transfer was Makati’s decision to scuttle the subway project that would have been useful in linking the residential areas to the central business district – including Fort Bonifacio, now largely within Taguig’s compass. Proponents of the project have now gone to arbitration court to demand Makati pay them billions.

There is no substitute for neighborliness. Friendly collaboration should open a way for the two cities to find a way to manage the assets essential for the wellbeing of the affected residents. Nothing is to be gained from eternal hostility.

Taguig, after all, is a rising city in its own right. It has demonstrated capacity to care for its residents as well as any other city in Metro Manila. This is not some fifth-class municipality lacking in vital resources to provide a better quality of life for its constituents. Makati should trust its neighbor to provide the same quality of care that it tried to give the EMBO residents.

The residents of the transferred villages will benefit more from cooperation between the rival LGUs. Perhaps a way could be found for the two cities to jointly manage the medical center and the university to benefit everyone in the vicinity.

Perhaps the foreign policy institutions of Manila and Beijing may learn a thing or two from the new cooperative approach adopted by Makati and Taguig. A sense of community may evolve beyond the limits of formal boundaries.