Duterte promises travel time from Cubao to Makati will be 5 minutes by December

Traffic situation in Metro Manila is about to improve by December this year, President Rodrigo Duterte said Saturday.

The chief executive even promised that the travel time going to Makati City from Cubao in Quezon City could be cut to five minutes.

"You don't have to worry about traffic... Cubao and Makati will be about five minutes na lang," Duterte said in a television interview over Pastor Apollo Quiboloy's Sonshine Media Network.

"You just wait. Ayaw kong mag-ano —but things will improve... maybe God willing, December smooth sailing na," he said.

Solving the perennial gridlock in Metro Manila is among Duterte's promises since he assumed the presidency. The administration even pushed for granting him emergency powers.

The measure seeking to bestow Duterte with emergency powers to solve traffic jams was stalled in the Senate despite being approved by the House of Representatives, as issues of corruption hounded the bill.

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade floated the possibility of giving the bill another shot in the next Congress. 

Duterte-backed former Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Francis Tolentino, who is poised to take a Senate seat, vowed to push for granting the President emergency powers in the 18th Congress. —KG, GMA News