The City of Pasig in Metropolitan Manila used to be a beautiful town when it was under the stewardship of Mayor Emiliano Caruncho Jr. Its streets were always clean, and the sidewalks were always clear of vendors, parked vehicles, and other obstructions. Jeepneys and tricycles did not belch smoke, and there was no drug menace to speak of.
Back then, uniformed policemen were always visible at strategic places. Their visible presence even at night made the streets safe for factory workers and other night employees.
Pasig deteriorated when the Eusebio political dynasty took over the city. This political dynasty currently controls the city, and has been in power for decades. Patriarch Vicente Eusebio, an infrastructure contractor, was first in line. He was succeeded by his wife, and later on, by his son.
Today, the streets form one large garbage bin for motorists. Billboards and disgusting, self-serving signages bearing the names and images of the city mayor and other local politicians are all over the city.
Most sidewalks have been converted to private parking spaces. This forces pedestrians to use the street and compete with vehicles for the remaining available road space. The traffic mess is aggravated, and pedestrian safety is unnecessarily compromised.
The sidewalk across the Unilab headquarters along the Pasig segment of United Street now hosts unsanitary food stalls that litter the area and block pedestrian sidewalk traffic. Further east in United Street and East Capitol Drive, restaurants have converted the sidewalks into parking spaces. A corner eatery even uses the sidewalk as an extension of its dining room.
Many jeepney and tricycle drivers operating in Pasig City violate traffic rules and regulations with impunity.
These drivers do not even have professional driver’s licenses, and their vehicles do not have the requisite franchises. Random inspections will confirm this extensive anomaly.
Almost all jeepneys and tricycles on Pasig City roads belch smoke in violation of the Clean Air Act. Their drivers add cheap engine oil to their fuel to increase its volume. The combination produces thick emissions.
Jeepney and tricycle drivers disregard traffic lights, particularly at night. They also block the pedestrian lane at intersections. This can be readily observed at the intersections of Shaw Boulevard-San Miguel Avenue; Shaw Boulevard-Pioneer Street; Shaw Boulevard-Meralco Avenue; and Meralco Avenue-ULTRA.
Numerous jeepneys plying Meralco Avenue, Shaw Boulevard and Pasig Boulevard do not use their headlights at night, for the mistaken reason that by turning off their headlights, they use less gasoline. Tricycles in two Pasig barangays, Kapitolyo and Pineda, are notorious for keeping their headlights turned off while traversing the roads at night. These jeepneys and tricycles have become dangerous road hazards to law-abiding motorists.
Taxicab drivers load and unload anywhere they please in the city, and in the process, they block the smooth flow of traffic.
Motorcycle drivers delivering merchandise from fastfood joints in Pasig City disobey traffic lights, enter one-way streets the wrong way, and use sidewalks as road extensions. More often than not, the motorcycles belch smoke.
Road rules are disregarded with impunity in Pasig City because there is no visible police presence along major city roads. A visit at the Pasig City Hall reveals that many policemen serve as personal bodyguards of city officials. This explains why policemen are not visible in the city’s streets.
There are horrible traffic jams in the Shaw Boulevard-Meralco Avenue area throughout the daylight hours, and unto the night. City hall has no political will to open some of the gates of the city’s gated subdivisions to motorists even for just the rush hours.
For instance, San Ignacio Street at Capitol 8 Subdivision can easily connect Pasig Boulevard to Pioneer Street and on towards Boni Avenue. The street itself has a bridge built by the city government, but its use is virtually limited to Capitol 8 residents. Opening it to motorists should ease the traffic bottleneck at Shaw Boulevard.
Unfortunately, the subdivision association closed San Ignacio Street to non-residents. Although the city pays for the electricity consumed by the lightposts along this street, the city has not done anything about the closure. Capitol 8 should not be confused with Barangay Kapitolyo proper, the bigger village to its northeast.
Pasig City authorities also seem reluctant to order other gated villages like Valle Verde and San Antonio to open their roads to ease traffic congestion during rush hours. Are there city officials who reside in these gated communities?
Speaking of traffic congestion, it appears that Pasig City authorities have allowed officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to proceed with the construction of a bridge across the Pasig River to connect Lawton Street in Fort Bonifacio to Santa Monica Street in Barangay Kapitolyo. Residents of Kapitolyo are up in arms against the diversion route because it is not the shortest, most practical path towards Pioneer Street. The better, more practical connecting road to Lawton Street is Sheridan Street Extension likewise in Barangay Kapitolyo. Unlike Santa Monica Street, Sheridan Extension is connected to Pioneer Street.
The problem, however, is that the segment of Sheridan Street Extension connecting Pioneer Street to riverside Kapitolyo is apparently being used by the RFM headquarters along Pioneer Street. Whether this is legal or not is something the Pasig City government has not investigated. Meanwhile, the residents of Barangay Kapitolyo are restless.
Another alternative to Santa Monica Street is Banaag Street in Barangay Pineda. This road can connect Pasig Boulevard (near the C-5 junction) almost up to Sheridan Street Extension. Widening Banaag Street and connecting it to Pioneer Street will help ease the traffic nightmare. Sadly, Pasig City officials refuse to consider this option.
Traffic lights are long overdue at the intersections of United Street and Pioneer Street, and at United Street and West Capitol Drive. Compounding the traffic problem here are motorcycle and tricycle drivers who insist on resorting to counterflows.
Meanwhile, the Eusebio political dynasty remains complacent because it is securely entrenched at city hall.