Duterte’s statement on ending ‘misery of commuting’ opposed

Some groups objected to Duterte’s statement in his last State of the Nation Address that his administration ended the suffering of commuting.

In a statement, Commuters of the Philippines said that public transportation is lacking. The convenience of commuting should not be based on today’s data, especially since there are many travel restrictions.

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“Other public transport modes actually deteriorated and public transport supply further aggravated by lack of PUVs and the reduced capacity due to the pandemic on the road. Also, many people are not commuting due to the pandemic, so data about commuting is inaccurate at best,” they said.

For the Infrawatch group, Duterte must see for himself the condition of commuters, particularly in EDSA.

“Hindi natin makita kung saang planeta galing ang Pangulo para sabihin niya na na-decongest na ang EDSA. Nakita po natin despite pandemic, despite work from home restrictions, and online classes, talagang rush hour po very heavy pa rin ang traffic sa Edsa. Hindi ba siya dumadaan sa EDSA that the public is still suffering in the misery of traffic in the last few months in the last few weeks,” said Terry Ridon.

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Duterte’s statement on ending ‘misery of commuting’ opposed

But for the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Duterte’s statement is correct.

They did not disappear, but the difficulty of commuting was alleviated.

“Ang sikreto kasi sa heavy traffic is mass transport system, MRT LRT the buses in that respect ‘yung bus carousel yung MRT3, LRT. Imagine-in niyo na lang kung walang pandemic ngayon wala tayong bus carousel siguro hindi tayo ganu’n kakomportable plus infra na ginagawa, in that sense tama ang presidente. At ako’y naniniwala as a (MMDA) Chairman, I’ve seen in in my own two eyes. Tama ang president we have greatly eased it (commuting),” said MMDA Chairman Benhur Abalos.

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He also said that the number of trains and MRT-3 has increased and its speed has also increased.

In his SONA, Duterte boasted that the suffering of commuters has been alleviated with the help of infrastructure projects such as the renovation of the MRT-3 trains.

“We have taken away the misery of commuting,” he said.

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