President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has emphasized that the rehabilitation of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), one of Metro Manila’s busiest thoroughfares, should not take two years. He expressed his satisfaction with the decision to suspend the planned full rehabilitation of EDSA to alleviate the difficulties faced by the public, particularly commuters.
“Hindi ko matanggal-tanggal sa pag-iisip ko. ‘Yung nasa kotse ka, nasa EDSA, makikita mo alas 12 na ng gabi. Ang haba pa ng pila, nag-aantay ng bus. Tapos ‘yun, pag-uwi nun, gigising na alas 4 ‘yun. Mag-aantay na naman ng bus para makapasok na alas 7, alas 8 (I can’t get it out of my mind. When you’re in the car, on EDSA, you’ll see it’s already 12 midnight. The line is still long, waiting for the bus. Then, when you get home, you’ll wake up at 4 o’clock. You’ll have to wait for the bus again to get in at 7, 8 o’clock),” he said in the latest episode of his podcast aired on Friday.
Marcos stressed that the current situation is already challenging enough and that the rehabilitation should not add to the public’s difficulties. “Hindi puwedeng ganyan na napakahirap na, dadagdagan pa natin ng kahirapan. Siguro naman may bagong sistema diyan na hindi natin kailangang isara o kung gagawin ay hindi dalawang taon (It can’t be like that, it’s already so difficult, we’ll just add to the difficulty. Maybe there’s a new system out there that we don’t have to close or if we do, it won’t take two years),” he stated.
He called for the consideration of new systems and technologies to expedite the repair timeline for EDSA, emphasizing that the suffering of motorists and commuters should not be prolonged. “Hanap tayo ng bagong teknolohiya (Let’s look for new technology). There are new technologies,” Marcos said. “Mukhang kakayanin ng hindi dalawang taon kasi two years ng pagdurusa. Hindi mo pwedeng gawin sa tao ‘yun (It seems like it can be done in less than two years because it’s two years of suffering. You can’t do that to a person).”
On June 1, Marcos ordered a one-month suspension of the EDSA rehabilitation, which was originally scheduled to begin on June 13. He highlighted the need to reassess the cost-benefit of the two-year rehabilitation project, citing the heavy traffic burden it would impose on hundreds of thousands of commuters and motorists using the 23-km EDSA.
In his vlog on June 8, Marcos reiterated that the rehabilitation would not proceed unless comprehensive rerouting plans are in place and local government units are fully prepared to manage the expected disruptions.