Manila's wealthy rise above gridlock

Manila's wealthy rise above gridlock

By Ramoncito dela Cruz

MANILA (Reuter): A helicopter flying above Manila high-rise buildings used to be such a rare sight that gawking motorists and pedestrians created a mini-traffic jam.

The Philippines was, after all, a land where the water buffalo was one of the most common forms of transport.

Times have changed, however, and now economic progress has produced massive traffic jams and a consequent increase in the number of helicopters buzzing just above the city's main business district.

Manila traffic is now so bad that businessmen regard helicopters as a normal alternative mode of transport, Jose Mari Roa, president of aircraft charter firm AirAds Inc., told Reuters in a recent interview.

Helicopter sales are booming and owners of tall buildings now make a tidy income from landing fees for their rooftop helipads. At present, about 1.5 million vehicles clog Manila.

According to official statistics, car sales reached 71,000 in 1995 and are expected to rise 10 percent annually.

"The market was again growing because of the economic stability ... People like to move quicker," Roa said.

Unfortunately, the boom in car sales has not necessarily led to speed.

Traffic jams now cost the country about 15 billion pesos (US$580 million) a year in lost man hours and bills for repairs, maintenance and fuel, a company proposing a mass transit railway system said in a study.

An elevated tollway and at least three mass-transit rail systems which will traverse the major thoroughfares in the city are being planned to ease congestion in the booming business districts.

"Are we really progressing or are we really in fact regressing?" Rupert Suarez, an officer of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX), said at a recent forum on the traffic problem.

Traffic used to be classified as either light, moderate or heavy but was now better described as "in the state of anarchy, bordering on madness", he said.

"It has gone from bad to worse," said Guillermo Luz, executive director of Makati Business Club, which groups most of the country's top executives.

Worse

Even executives of the country's top conglomerate, Ayala Corp., which developed the prime Makati business district, are often seen walking along the area's streets between power lunches and work.

The average vehicle speed around the center of Makati, where big companies and multinational firms are located, has slowed to 13 km (eight miles) per hour, Ayala urban planner Salvador Tan told reporters.

"We are anticipating it will get worse, if nothing is done about it. We will be worse than Bangkok," Ayala Land Inc. president Francisco Licuanan told Reuters.

The average traffic speed in the Thai capital, notorious for its monster traffic jams, is just seven km (four miles) per hour, compared to 22 km/h (13 mph) in Singapore, Licuanan added.

Cesar Campos, president of Makati Commercial Estates Association (Macea), said the place is crowded with cars as well as pedestrians.

About 200,000 people working in Makati bring more than 150,000 cars into the area daily, he added.

Alan Ortiz, president of Dharmala Philippines Inc., warned the situation could discourage investments in the country.

Ayala, the city government and property developers have come up with innovative solutions such as pedestrian walkways, vehicle underpasses and overpasses, and a mass-transit railway which are to be constructed in and around the business district.

But the whole infrastructure package will not be completed until long past 2000.

"Relief will not happen overnight. Indeed, things will probably get worse, as you're already noticing, before they get better," Ayala Corp senior managing director Fernando Zobel de Ayala told the forum.

Meanwhile, the helicopter companies are prospering.

"It's practical for (businessmen) to have their meetings in a hotel or in their own buildings where they have their helipads. They don't have to go through the traffic," Roa added.

Helicopters also help businessmen to stay clear of the robbers and kidnappers who are another result of economic progress.

"They're saving time and saving on their own security," Roa added.

Five years ago, his company sold about one helicopter a year. Now, it sells five to seven, said Roa. Prices range from three million pesos to five million pesos ($115,400 to $192,300), making good business sense, he said.