San Pedrenses are now basking with pride and hope for the future.
The reason: after more than eight years of construction - and before that, years of planning and lobbying - the San Pedro northbound exit of the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) is finally open to motorists.
As motorists and commuters rejoice in the opening of the new exit, which is expected to bring much-needed economic boost in a city where its greatest asset has been its "people power" - the San Pedro northbound exit is also a stark reminder of the snail-paced progress that has marked our infrastructure sector.
It's no secret that major infrastructure projects such as roadways or bridges in the Philippines often take years, even decades, in the making, from planning to completion.
Even as successive administrations have pledged to fast-track major infrastructure projects by eliminating bureaucracy and speeding up the process of approval of projects, the fact remains that we are still lagging far behind our neighbors in Southeast Asia when it comes to execution of our infrastructure.
Of course, the reason is far too obvious: as skeptics have derided, there's no money in fast-tracking construction. It's a big open secret that one of the reasons infrastructure projects take so long here in the Philippines is that everyone has to have a cut of the billions of pesos appropriated for such projects.
This blatant and widespread corruption comes at a loss: loss of economic opportunities that would have made life easier for millions of Filipinos.
If, as a saying regarding our judiciary goes, justice delayed is justice denied, then the same must be applied to the snail-like pace of our infrastructure projects: Progress delayed is progress denied.
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