EDSA rehab deferment not linked to May polls – Palace

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino’s decision to suspend the planned rehabilitation of EDSA – a major thoroughfare in Metro Manila – does not have anything to do with the upcoming May 13 elections, a Malacañang official said yesterday.

“No. Absolutely, it has nothing to do with the elections. This is purely a logistical issue…Even if it’s not an election year, we would have done the same thing anyway,” Secretary Ricky Carandang, who heads the Presidential Communications Strategic Planning and Development Office, said.

Several quarters hinted Aquino may have deferred the rehabilitation of the 23-kilometer highway primarily because candidates of the administration party may suffer in the mid-term polls once the traffic jams along EDSA worsen threefold as a result of the rehabilitation.

The President wanted the officials concerned, primarily the job of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), to study the matter further, suspending the works that would have started this May and lasted two years.

“It has been suspended… until such time that we can be convinced that all actions that can be taken have been taken with regard to minimizing the impact of the EDSA rehab on traffic,” he explained.

Carandang said once rehabilitation starts, “40 percent of the lanes will be unusable.” He added that while they do not disagree that the project has to happen, “we want to make sure that it’s done with the least inconvenience to motorists and that’s the reason for the review.”

According to him, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) under Secretary Rogelio Singson is in the process of finding out what things can be done to help mitigate the impact on traffic of the project, or if it has to be suspended further.

Carandang denied reports Singson was given 30 days to conduct the review.

He said that â€œif the DPWH is able to convince us, particularly the President, that they’ve taken all the measures and that this is the best course of action then, it may continue in as scheduled but, they need to show first that they’ve taken all the necessary steps.”  

Aquino made his decision to suspend the EDSA rehabilitation after meeting Wednesday afternoon with officials of the DPWH, MMDA and the Department of the Interior and Local Government to discuss the project.

Last week, the MMDA, along with Metro Manila mayors, approved in principle the P3.7-billion plan to rehabilitate EDSA, which spans Roxas Boulevard to Monumento. The rehabilitation project involves using high-grade performance asphalt on EDSA, seen to last for 10 years.