May is usually the month of processions and parades due to fiestas and other traditions like the Flores de Mayo and Santacruzan.
However, some residents of San Pedro City, Laguna now have a valid question to ask the local government unit (LGU): progressive groups need a permit to stage their street protests, so how about religious processions and parades?
That was one question a prominent San Pedro City businessman raised after he was caught in heavy traffic last Tuesday, May 28, along the National Highway in San Pedro City.
According to this businessman, who requested anonymity, he was on his way to an important engagement that Tuesday night when he found himself stuck in a traffic jam that lasted for over an hour.
He reportedly asked his driver to make a detour to the San Pedro City downtown area, thinking he could manage to get past the heavy traffic along the National Highway. But no, he found himself caught in yet another traffic jam along Mabini Street.
“Pinatanong ko sa driver ko kung anong dahilan ng traffic. Yun pala, mayroon palang religious procession na idinaraos sa isang simbahan sa lugar na iyon,” he related to OpinYon Laguna.
Apparently, that procession was supposed to be held last Sunday, when traffic usually was at its lightest, but was delayed due to the onslaught of typhoon “Aghon” that day.
Infra projects
That heavy traffic was also exacerbated by the fact that both the national and local governments had embarked on large-scale infrastructure projects in San Pedro City in recent months.
These include the repaving of a section of the National Highway near the controversial San Pedro Bridge, as well as along the Maharlika Drive in United San Pedro and the corner of Pagsanjan and Father Masi streets in Holiday Homes, in Barangay San Antonio.
Speaking of which, the status of major infrastructure projects in San Pedro City also became one of the hot topics in the recent “Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas” forum organized by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) and the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) last Tuesday, May 28.
During the forum, in which officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) – Calabarzon reported their accomplishments during the past year, Regional Director Jovel Mendoza repeated the promise he earlier made in a letter sent to OpinYon Laguna last March: the northbound exit of the San Pedro Toll Plaza will be completed by the end of the year.
"Kaya lang po iyan na-hold ay dahil yung funding release ay nangyari lang po ngayong 2024, para po sa completion noong loop road saka yung toll facilities sa loob," Mendoza explained in reply to a query from OpinYon Laguna.
"Pero yung road-widening, saka yung toll booths, ongoing na po ang construction. Rest assured na ngayong 2024, on the part of the DPWH, yung needed facilities doon sa exit ramps will all be completed para mai-turnover na sa San Miguel Corporation (SMC) at MATES, na siya naman pong mag-o-operate noon," he added.
Photo Credits to : Catherine Go
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