How did Filipinos end up stranded in mobility woes?

In the early 80s, travelling from Caloocan City to Legaspi Village in Makati would usually take me about 30 minutes by bus through EDSA. By the mid-90s, the volume of vehicle traffic was beginning to outpace the capacity of this main artery. The start of the MRT-3 construction, although causing more congestion, came as a welcome relief for most, in the hope that people would not have to use cars to get to their workplaces.

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But when the railway started its operations about five years later, the EDSA traffic stayed on. Today, there is a joke that refers to EDSA as the longest parking lot in the world.

Here in Metro Manila, as the Friday evening traffic begins its slow, agonizing crawl, it's easy to feel a collective sigh of despair. What should be a quick hop home becomes an endurance test, a daily reminder of a city bursting at the seams. It is a symptom of a deeper, historical wound: the unregulated urban sprawl that began in the Philippines after the devastation of World War II. And for millions of Filipinos today, this lack of foresight has translated into a harsh reality of congestion, infrastructure gaps, and a diminished quality of life.

Decades ago, the Philippines was a model for urban mobility. The Manila-Dagupan railway, inaugurated in 1892, was among the earliest in Asia. The capital's streetcar system, introduced in the late 19th century, was the envy of the region. By the mid-20th century, Manila was a bustling metropolis with a sophisticated transport network. The country's early adoption of automobiles and modern roadways set it apart from its neighbors. Today, however, the Philippines finds itself lagging behind most ASEAN countries in mobility infrastructure, according to a recent PIDS study. This is a situation with significant consequences for the nation's economy and quality of life.