Embarrassing Prides of Manila -

Roxas Boulevard and Macapagal Avenue

By Apolinario Villalobos

Roxas Boulevard is considered as one of the main arteries of Metro Manila. Along this strip of avenue, flow traffics to the airport, southern destinations, Rizal Park, Makati business district, and city proper of Manila. Unfortunately, the boulevard is being used for special events, hence, closed for as long as half day, posing a problem to motorists. Traffics get snarled along secondary streets where the motorists are redirected. The length of the boulevard is shared by Manila City, Pasay City and Paraῆaque City. None of them ever thought of sitting down to discuss options on how to solve the problem, one of which is using the reclaimed area now being developed into an “Entertainment City”. Its streets are more than enough to accommodate running events, as they are wide without any impediment, especially on Sundays. Meanwhile, for as long as this problem is not solved by the “three heads”, the historic strip shall remain an embarrassment to the government.

Then, there’s the Macapagal Avenue, right in front of the Dream City, with its giant potholes. For several months now, the road made useless by these traffic obstacles, have not been touched by the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA), headed by its General Manager, Peter Anthony Abaya, who is incidentally, brother of Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), Jun Abaya. President Aquino always refers to the whole area where a forest of modern structures has sprung up, as the next “Entertainment City of Asia”. But, even with the simple retouch to a short length of road not applied, will it happen?…or remain just to be a dream.