Massive Jam

I was due to arrive in Manila past one from Cebu the Friday before the long weekend. The PAL plane from Manila arrived an hour late at the Mactan International Airport resulting in a series of delays for the day for the Boeing Jet.

“Manageable,” I told myself. But as we reached the island of Luzon, the pilot announced that there would be a delay in landing due to some operations at the Manila airport. We hovered around South Luzon for an hour until our flight was given clearance to land. It was my 1st time to view landing from the South side of the airport as we would traditionally pass by the air route from East when we would land from coming either the Visayas, Mindanao or from abroad. I found out upon landing that the President of Vietnam departed that same afternoon putting on hold any plane movements at the airport.

Grabbed from the Inquirer

“Still manageable,” I convinced myself. On the way out of the airport, I was caught in a gridlock mid afternoon, 1st at the Quirino Highway until Osmeńa Highway due to the combined volume of private vehicles and big hauling trucks and in Kamuning along Judge Jimenez st. until Kamias. Gridlock was caused by bottlenecks at every intersection of private vehicles and motorcycles cramming for the same limited road space.

Later on that evening, broadcast news validated that traffic was extremely heavy that afternoon until late in the evening as it was a Friday, pay day and Metro residents are moving out to take advantage of the 4-day free day. I was pleased to have heard that news while in the comfort of my destination for the day.

Two days after was altogether a different situation. Metro Manila that Monday was in a relatively relaxed state getting the much needed relief from the stress of a congested city. There was hardly any vehicle in both major highways and local roads. Neither are there any mass gatherings at the streets. Movement from the East side of Metro Manila to the West was a breeze.

Such was the cycle of stress to stress-free. Metro Manila this Monday was given the chance to rejuvenate and to expel the carbon dioxide emitted by vehicles. This much needed respite was timely and temporary, preparing itself for the hurried pace of the forthcoming 2011 holiday season. Happy Halloween!