Is Commonwealth Avenue the Next EDSA in the Philippines?

As if Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue--or more popularly known as EDSA--isn't enough. Now, ABS-CBN reports that there's a possibility that EDSA will develop its own 'Mini-Me' (or perhaps a 'Mini Clone'?) version if the government won't solve the current traffic congestion problem in Commonwealth Avenue.

The main culprit? Lack of buses. According to Task Force for Transport and Traffic Management's 'action man' Ariel Inton, buses coming from Fairview and San Jose del Monte, Bulacan are already full by the time they reach Commonwealth Avenue during rush hour.

"Ang Commonwealth kapag hindi natin nasolusyonan ito, this will be the next EDSA, kahit ganoon ito kalapad (If we cannot solve the Commonwealth problem, this will be the next EDSA even if it is a wider road.)," Inton told a Senate hearing on traffic, likening the Quezon City road to Metro Manila's main artery.

The situation gets even worse here. Inton added that passengers occupy almost four of Commonwealth Avenue's ten lanes during peak times. This makes the roads narrower, and makes traffic congestion even worse.

"Araw-araw po nagiging kultura na ng ating mga mananakay ang 'zombie mentality'--sinasalubong nila ang mga bus, public utility vehicles. Marami nang mga jeep out of line na, pero wala tayong magagawa, walang masakyan ang tao ("Zombie mentality" has become the culture of many of our passengers where they go after buses and public utility vehicles. Many of the jeeps there are out of line, but we could not do anything because passengers need a ride)," he said.

So yes, just knowing the possibility of having two problematic highways in the Philippines is giving us a nervous breakdown right this second. If this stretches to three, then we're definitely migrating elsewhere--perhaps to Timbuktu or Antarctica. Hopefully, traffic wouldn't be as bad as what we have here in the country.