How to avoid Metro Manila’s fate

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BY MANNY VILLAR
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Wednesday, March 7, 2018
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METRO Manila began as Manila, which was already a thriving commercial area before it was established as a city by the Spanish colonizers. Centuries of Spanish rule, followed by the American regime, saw the original city growing and expanding until its current regional status as the National Capital Region (NCR).

The absence of long-term planning for development is reflected in the present condition of the metropolis. Paved roads and bridges were built even during the Spanish regime, but no one probably thought what the city would be like in the 21st century.

Travel was smooth in the past, despite the slowness of the horse-driven carriages, because the demand from people and business could be satisfied by the transport system at that time.

But advances in technology and industries, as well as population growth and globalization, quickly outpaced the growth in road networks, which failed to satisfy demand for the movement of goods and people.

Now, commuters and motorists have to endure hours of snail-paced traffic on EDSA and other major thoroughfares, resulting not only in loss of productivity and income, but also in health problems like stress. Traffic congestion in Metro Manila is costing the Philippine economy at least P3.5 billion a day, according to a recent study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

President Rodrigo Duterte said last December that because of the worsening traffic problem, Metro Manila would be a dead city in 25 years. That would happen if nothing is done to solve the problem.

JICA’s report titled “Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for Metro Manila and Its Surrounding Areas,” proposed strategies to solve the traffic problem by 2030. The strategies include not only the construction of modern railways and other transport projects, but also the development of other growth areas outside Metro Manila.

Actually, President Duterte’s thrust toward regional development will accelerate economic growth in the provinces, which will increase demand for better transport systems.

The development of new growth areas will, hopefully, reduce the migration of people from the provinces to the congested Metro Manila, in effect also reducing the informal settlement problem in the metropolis.

In addition, the new growth areas will attract more investments in the countryside, resulting in a more equitable distribution of capital.

According to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), out of the total of 4,985 infrastructure projects listed in the government’s investment program for 2017 to 2022, at least 3,911 projects have been identified as region-specific, while at least 98 have been identified as inter-regional.

The Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) alone will receive 1,340 projects.

The government’s massive infrastructure program now needs a total of P9.04 trillion investments in six years. The amount does not include infrastructure projects that would be funded by local government units, government-owned and controlled corporations, the private sector and other sources.

This is the right time for other cities and urbanizing areas outside Metro Manila to prepare long-term plans for traffic and other development requirements. Local executives should learn from the history of Metro Manila in order to avoid the same fate. It is cheaper and more efficient to plan for, and undertake projects to cope with future demand, than to solve a problem as worse as Metro Manila’s.

In my travels around the country, I see the booming economies in many cities and provinces. In spite of what happened in Marawi, there’s a lot of excitement in cities like Davao and Cagayan de Oro. I happen to operate in many cities in Mindanao so I see the ongoing development in these areas.

For the local planners, it is easier to prepare traffic plans. They should avoid the example of Metro Manila, which allowed the continuous building of commercial and other structures without considering the impact on the road and transport systems.

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This piece first came out in Business Mirror on Feb. 26, 2018 under the column “The Entrepreneur.” For comments/feedback e-mail to: mbv.secretariat@gmail.com or visitwww.mannyvillar.com.ph./PN
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