GMA caught in EDSA gridlock

Holiday traffic has always been the great equalizer, presidential escorts learned yesterday.

Not even the so-called "hawi boys" with their sirens at full blast could spare the convoy of President Arroyo from the gridlock along EDSA yesterday.

At least half a dozen cars of the presidential convoy got stuck in horrendous traffic along EDSA despite frantic efforts by motorcycle- and car-riding escorts to clear the way for their VIP (very important passenger).

With Mrs. Arroyo on board, the northbound black Mercedes-Benz with license plates "Ang Pangulo" was negotiating the stretch of EDSA as it emerged from the Makati tunnel when it ran smack into a gridlock, beginning from Magallanes in Makati City all the way to Santolan Road in Quezon City.

Her escorts composed of motorcycle-riding policemen and the car-riding Presidential Security Group (PSG) tried to slip through the bottleneck to no avail.

In desperation, one of the barong-clad PSG men had to get off his vehicle and lead the Mercedes on foot under the noon day sun.

Other security personnel used their bullhorns to call on motorists to give way.

But their efforts were fruitless as hundreds of vehicles — cars, buses, jeeps of all shapes and sizes — were stuck bumper-to-bumper.

The EDSA crawl has become a daily phenomenon since last week as thousands of holiday shoppers continue to flock to the malls.

After more than an hour, motorcycle escorts from the Traffic Management Group (TMG) finally managed to push the buses to the side of the road, leaving just enough space for the presidential convoy to wiggle through along Guadalupe in Makati.

But while the President could cool her heels inside her vehicle and perhaps even ponder on important matters of state, thousands of other motorists could only labor through the highway nightmare.

Later in the afternoon, the convoy headed for the PNP’s headquarters at Camp Crame for the traditional Directors’ Night dinner with the Commander-in-Chief.

PNP chief Director Leandro Mendoza announced the other day that the PNP was deploying an additional 700 policemen for traffic duties this holiday season. But even that couldn’t prevent motorists from traveling for miles in first gear.