'Solution to Metro Manila traffic just outside Malacañang'

MANILA, Philippines - For some government officials, the solution to Metro Manila's impending monstrous traffic congestion is just outside the windows of Malacañang: the deactived Pasig River ferry system.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said the ferry service along the 27-kilometer waterway is the only way to mitigate the traffic jams to be caused by the 15 infrastructure projects that are now underway.

Recto said President Benigno Aquino III's "assorted standby funds" should be dipped into to revive the ferry service, which he described as "just outside the windows of Malacañang."

"[W]e should now utilize this nautical road," Recto said of the Pasig River ferry service. "It is toll-free and ready to use."

The 10-boat Pasig River ferry service used to served 17 stations along a 15 kilometer route from Plaza Mexico in Intramuros, Manila to Nagpayong in Pasig City.

The ferry operations were stopped in 2011 due to lower passenger volume and navigational hazards like the proliferation of water lily in the famous river, according to Recto.

Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Francis Tolentino said they are also eyeing the revival of the Pasig River ferry system to help ease the traffic congestion in the metro.

"We mentioned that the river ferry must be revived, soonest," Tolentino said in an interview on ANC on Monday morning. "What we intend to do is utilize smaller boats, 20 passengers, similar to your river taxis."

Recto said the P1-billion Contingent Fund and the P140-billion Unprogrammed Fund in the 2014 national budget are possible sources of the project.

The senator said the government can rent the boats that the previous ferry operator owned or buy new ones for the revival of the ferry system.

He also proposed that the government should subsidize the rider cost and think that the project is not for profit.

"It must be viewed as a public service in response to an emergency which in this case is the traffic gridlock," Recto said.

Traffic in Metro Manila is expected to worsen in the coming days as 15 major infrastructure projects in the metropolis are about to start, including the construction of the Skyway Stage 3 that would connect the North and South Luzon Expressways.