San Pablo residents grapple with traffic tango woes

 

                                            Edmar Ramos shares his insights on the traffic issue during his duty

Transportation encompasses significant aspects of life and weaves the supposed smooth-sailing road toward our country's development. The daily narrative, however, is the ceaseless honks and hums of engines as they wait through the vehicle-congested, smoke-filled streets. For the inhabitants of barangay San Pablo in the City of Malolos, the deep-seated problem of traffic congestion makes their way of life burdensome.

Larry Cruz, a 60-year-old tricycle driver, struggles in everyday traffic jams due to the influx of vehicles and the frequent road construction that leads to roadblocks. The geographical location of San Pablo, which is adjoined to the McArthur Highway, can be assumed as the main contributing factor to the traffic congestion in the barangay.

Cruz, however, is one of many residents who complained about transportation issues in the barangay. The residents named the Montessori School of Malolos, adding more to the already innumerable vehicles jammed up in the streets of San Pablo. 

Given the already worsening congestion of Malolos, its local government provided traffic lights on every street corner on the national road. Residents of San Pablo argue that its installation is relatively futile and unhelpful. Our team, who took the McArthur Highway on our way to the barangay, observed firsthand why the residents weren't convinced of the effectiveness of this solution. While regulating traffic flow, the number of vehicles entering San Pablo does not equal the number of cars exiting the barangay. Instead, The vehicles are jammed up in the same place as if the traffic lights that are supposed to regulate become a roadblock. 

Our team took the residents' complaints to the barangay officials to find out if their office had any previous knowledge of this issue and the proposed solution they had in store. Kagawads Sandy Ngo, Eduardo Camua, and Andres Santiago acknowledged the barangay's transportation issues and are arranging some compromises to alleviate the vehicle congestion. 

Kagawad Ngo explains that they plan to fix the matter with the San Pablo TODA's franchise and unregistered vehicles. He pointed out that unruly tricycle drivers are allegedly messing up the parking queue in the terminal, causing further traffic, mainly since their terminal is located at the Barangay and McArthur Highway intersection. Thus, the barangay officials plan on talking to the TODA's president to reprimand the drivers for improper parking. 

The kagawad also mentioned the owners of apartments who contract tenants with private vehicles despite their establishments lacking parking lots. According to him, this causes road blockages as the tenants' cars are illegally parked on the roadsides instead. 

We also discussed the residents' grievances towards the Montessori School of Malolos and its supposed contribution to worsening traffic congestion in the barangay. All three agreed that the school is another active cause of vehicle congestion in the area. 

“Isang bata, isang sasakyan. Mostly. Konti lang yung may service, yung mga bata na may kasabay na dalawa o tatlo. Practically, halos lahat may sasakyan. Kaya kapag pasukan sa umaga, salubungan ‘yon,” kagawad Camua explained. 

While the school has a designated parking lot several meters away from school, private vehicle-owners prefer parking beside the school gate for convenience and proximity.  Barangay officials have already recommended solutions for the school services in which the school would rent land spaces as parking lots. They have also laid out a one-way road system with entrance and exit ways to manage traffic flow. Despite these numerous attempts, Camua expressed disappointment with the school's uncooperative attitude.

We tried contacting the school administration regarding their parking policy, but they were unresponsive to our messages. On our second attempt, the school outright rejected answering our inquiries.

When asked about the penalties for illegally parked vehicles, the kagawads reiterated that they cannot do anything besides communicate with the school and ask for the drivers' and apartment owners' compliance. They specified that the Traffic Management Office of Malolos can only carry out any legal punishments. We tried to confirm this matter with the government office but were met with silence. 

The need for concrete plans for traffic congestion in San Pablo manifests itself in its environment. While surveying the residents' opinions on the barangay's rampant issues, our team observed uncollected trash bags littering the area. The 54-year-old resident Danilo Soriano explains that the poor waste management is rooted in the delayed trash collection. Residents experience 2-3 days of delay instead of the weekly collections. However, even if collected on time, garbage bags heap up on street corners and will continue accumulating with more delays. 

Kagawad Santiago attributes poor waste management to the lack of haulers for trash collection. Malolos's Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) set a trash-unloading schedule for its 51 barangays. However, the number of haulers still needs to catch up with the quantity of trash unloaded onto them. The segregation process takes time, and when the limited haulers are full, trucks have to wait for other haulers to come back. 

Additionally, the number of garbage trucks entering and unloading in the MRF facility adds to the waiting time before they can return and collect more. Garbage transportation is another problem, as it is affected by traffic congestion in Malolos. 

Thus, Kagawad Camua is firm that this is just a "man-made" issue that can be resolved quickly once the higher government officials faithfully commit to serving the people. 

"National yung problem eh. Hangga’t hindi political will ng mga namumuno na ayusin ang basic services, hanggang ngayon problema pa rin natin yan.," he reasoned. 

Despite Metro Manila being hailed as the world's worst traffic area, the government has yet to present a long-term solution for the country's transportation issue. The overall failure to solve traffic congestion concerns car-centric infrastructures and developments. Multiple areas in the country can only be reached by vehicles; more bike and pedestrian lanes must be made. Furthermore, approximately 1.27 million private cars were registered in 2022, yet public utility jeepneys are only 46.2 thousand. Limited PUJs present 'buying a car' as an imaginary solution when it can be easily solved by increasing the number of PUJs and making them accessible to the public. The ease of accessibility will also allow citizens to make more prudent choices, benefiting the environment and personal health. 

Nevertheless, without the national government's initiative, local government units and citizens can only point fingers at each other. The cycle continues while transportation issues tighten their clutches and disrupt our country's development. 

For the full report, watch the full documentary here