See the picture above? Its like every urban dweller’s dream! EDSAng walang trapik and vehicles you can count by fingers! Yup, that’s our very own busiest thorougfare in the country…Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, or EDSA! Sana nga araw araw ganito! Ay apo! But wait, there’s more…most of Manila’s roads were almost empty…whoa! Now that’s quite creepy…parang War of the Worlds ata? Hmmm…not!
This was December 26 2008…a day after Christmas and people are expecting a long holiday…really really long! In fact, the longest holiday the Filipinos have experienced in the 21st Century so far! Ergo, the exodus from this humongous dormitory called Metro Manila and back to the provinces. Yes, although the Metro and its suburbs may reach 18 million in an ordinary day…right now it feels like it dropped to just a million or even less! Hehe! The metro is a big dormitory I tell you. People come here to work and spend holidays in the countryside!
Now, go to Cubao and Munoz or Pasay…and the sidewalks were lined up with last minute commuters. Mga parekoy, nung Pasko pa umalis ang mga bus at nasa probinsya na…maybe they weren’t lucky to hitch a ride on a bus on Christmas Eve. Anyway, mahaba pa naman ang bakasyon so most of them were willing to wait with their big bags and boxes of pasalubong under the heat of the sun.
Now…with Manila desolate, I thought I’ll be enjoying a flawless and uncongested driving. I was wrong…the cars went on a holiday…and along with a desolated Manila is a congested countryside!
Hahahaha!!! Kamusta muli Berniemack! Andito nanaman ang salot ng bayan mula pa sa Cavite, si “heavy traffic congestion!” The demon of asphalt greeted me upon arriving at Dau Toll Plaza in Angeles City Pampanga….Oh c’mon, you again?! Indeed, cars were lining up to pay their dues to the Lopezes, lords of NLEX, for as far as a kilometer of crawling bugs and vehicles. After cruising from home at Cavite, passing by Manila with a breeze and flying at NLEX, here’s an appetizer for that day…that day after Christmas!
Well after paying our dues to the Lopezes of NLEX, we tried SCTEX or Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway which is one of the legacies that the Great Madame by the River will be leaving hopefully by 2010 for the Filipino people! In fairness, it is really a big help for the vacationers and businessmen who travel north. Now its easier to go up to Baguio without getting stuck in the traffic at Mabalacat or Tarlac City. Boy we did enjoyed cruising…and we were at Tarlac City in less than 30 minutes…passing by lahar fields that ravaged Central Luzon before.
Ok, its back to MacArthur Highway…the traditional way going north. The roads were widened somewhere near the Tarlac River dikes…of concrete and asphalt! Good, at least they know that the traffic volume has been increasing significantly over the years…but then again the demon greeted me once more…
Anak ng…ang trapik sa Gerona, Paniqui at Moncada! Whadda?! Back then it was easy driving here…but now its like seeing the nightmare of Aguinaldo Highway once more! Worse, they don’t know “buhos!” There were no accidents in Tarlac that time…only the influx of vehicles and passengers who are out of Manila for the holidays! Grabe! I never knew this would happen a hundred kilometers away from the Capital…at loko din itong demonyo ng aspalto, our freon (refrigirant) on our car aircon ran out and we were sweating like pigs over charcoal! And we haven’t seen any decent car aircon repair shop for 2 hours! Yeah 2 hours and still stuck somewhere in Moncada Tarlac!
And so we opened the windows and we thought that our ordeal was over in Moncada and was excited to cross the boundary of Central Luzon and Ilocos Region…but no. Here comes that demon again just in front of the welcome arch of Pangasinan province! Hay, di ba sya nagsasawa?! Ok, to make this long story short, traffic jam at Carmen-Rosales in Pangasinan..may SM na rin kasi dito..and a busted bus in the middle of the road! Nakabalandra! We had an hour stopover at Villasis to fill up the aircon refrigirant.
And this is not over yet…welcome to Urdaneta City…tumigil ang mundo and its already 5PM…9 hours after we left home! Urdaneta is usually only 4 hours away! Damn, traffic jams are getting worse by the day! Although they were widening their roads anticipating for the big traffic volume but the construction hasn’t finished yet. Worse, it was during the holiday season…so traffic is at its peak!
After Urdaneta to San Fernando City, it was smooth cruising. We part ways with Baguio-bound vehicles just at Rosario La Union..so we will be cruising all night towards Vigan City…which is a pain-in-the-ass 6 hours away still. San Fernando City’s traffic is negotiable, you still have the option to pass the by-pass road instead of going downtown.
And by the way, from the boundary of La Union and Ilocos Sur all the way to Vigan, expect the roads to be “not good” as its undergoing rennovation which is due few months before the Great Theatre of Elections of 2010 begins.
There was a diaspora of people out of Manila. Don’t ask where the vehicles were during Christmas holidays…alam mo na ang sagot, umuwi rin sila ng probinsya! Cars take holidays too you know.
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