Land emancipation was the battle cry of many revolutions in the past two to three centuries. From lands across Europe to the Americas and in Asia to include our country, it was agrarian reform or the emancipation of the masses from the hold of the landowners whose lands they toiled for generations that brought about many a nation’s journey to democratic change and economic development. And while we have achieved much progress in freeing our farmers from land slavery, there appears to be another platform of societal disparity that is now heavily burdening the greater majority of our people.
We see and experience it every day here in our country. It is not confined to the countryside and in fact is much more pronounced in our urban areas, burdening everyone at the very least for the past half-century. I am referring to our present enslavement to our roads where we are forced to spend much of our time, effort and resources in order for us to get to our destinations. JICA has put a number to it some two years ago just before the pandemic—P4.3 billion a day or P1.6 trillion a year—roughly a third of our country’s annual budget all gone to waste because of traffic and the lack of an efficient, safe and affordable public transport. And unless proper attention is given to this problem, it will only get worse and will take its toll on our succeeding generations.
This road slavery affects everyone but mostly felt by the working class. While we who have our own private vehicles complain endlessly about the horrendous traffic, our brother commuters have a more difficult time. Leaving early for work or for school means waking up at around 4 a.m. to line up for public transport that would bring them to their 9 a.m. destinations. It would take them roughly the same amount of time going back home, resulting to around 6 hours of wasted time on the road. And almost taken for granted are concerns on safety, convenience of occupants on the road, not to mention the effects of vehicle carbon emissions on the environment.
To be fair, the government has long been working to emancipate the public from this road slavery. Past administrations have had their legacies cast in many transport programs. Marcos Sr. gave us the first taste of expressways, the LRT as well as the iconic San Juanico Bridge. Corazon Aquino gave us the flyovers on Edsa. FVR, the MRT and GMA, the nautical highway, while PNoy began the blueprint of many transport master plans. Meanwhile, the Build, Build, Build program of the previous administration remains to be a testament to the government’s capacity not just to meet the demand for the needed road and transport infrastructure but also its intent to democratize such infrastructure all across the archipelago. These are all laudable. But on a catch up mode are the needed “non-infrastructure” policy changes that are equally as important. These would include policies on uplifting the lives of public transport operators, access to capital for transport, roadworthiness of vehicles, pedestrian protection and safety, environmental protection, proper road education, standardization of traffic rules and regulations and much more. Then there are the forward looking considerations such as better city planning that would aim to reduce the need for motorized transport and encourage short trips given the proximity to essential destinations.
Truth to tell, our road emancipation remains an uphill climb. Yes, it is a work in progress and we are in better state than before. But we have a long way to go before we can say confidently that, just like Hong Kong or Singapore, our transport is convenient, safe and accessible to all. As they say—it is when the wealthy ride the same public transport just like the rest of society, then more or less equitable transport would have been achieved. That remains to be a dream. But just like land emancipation, it is a dream we must pursue and aim for, nonetheless.
The author may be reached at tmo45@georgetown.edu