Not unlike Metro Manila, Cebu City is also notorious for its heavy traffic, with local officials announcing new projects to help decongest traffic such as the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), which will see four stations built under the first phase.
In its desire to break ground on the new project with a bang, city officials decided to erect a stage in the middle of the Fuente Osmeña rotunda ahead of its ceremony today, where President Bongbong Marcos is scheduled to appear — causing traffic in the area.
The irony of a traffic decongestion project causing even heavier traffic was not lost on netizens.
“The design is very traffic,” one user said, referencing a popular local meme.
“Is there a need for this ostentatious event at the expense of motorists? Why not make it a simple groundbreaking [ceremony] where a department secretary can grace the event instead of the president,” another said.
To be fair, the city government did announce that the Fuente Osmeña highway would be closed for three days in preparation for today’s ceremony. But others pointed out that motorists and commuters should have been informed even earlier so they could have made other arrangements.
“[A] signage informing drivers well in advance would help them make alternative decisions. But knowing the Philippines that type of common sense rarely exists,” one wrote.
The Cebu BRT is a PHP16.3 billion (US$292.7 million) project by the Department of Transportation, which will introduce a bus service with dedicated routes or priority lanes traversing a 13.8-kilometer stretch from South Road Properties through Mambaling to IT Park.
The project is expected to decongest car-filled roads in Cebu City and provide commuters a faster alternative transportation to and from their schools, workplaces and establishments.
