SENATOR Grace Poe urged the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to accelerate the construction of the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7) as plans move forward to repair the entire stretch of EDSA.
The MRT-7, being built by Ramon Ang’s San Miguel Corp., will connect Bulacan to Quezon City via Commonwealth Avenue.
“Everyone in Metro Manila is waiting to get on board. We hope the MRT-7 project will soon become a reality,” Poe said in a statement.
“As one viral meme about our trains on Facebook says, ‘Papasok kang estudyante, lalabas kang mandirigma.’ We hope the suffering of our commuters will finally come to an end,” she added.
To ease the expected congestion, Poe also called on private companies to implement temporary solutions for employees.
These include providing shuttle services and adopting flexible work arrangements such as work-from-home setups.
She emphasized that a “business-as-usual” approach would not work given the anticipated impact on traffic.
Poe cited a 2017 JICA study that found that the country loses PHP3.5 billion daily due to traffic, a figure projected to rise to PHP5.4 billion by 2035 if unaddressed.
Poe also urged the DOTr and MMDA to launch a comprehensive public information campaign to clarify traffic management measures, particularly t
