Metro Manila's roads were built for cars.
Its people aren't.

In writing, numbers are crucial. It's the holy grail of every conversation, the core argument circles within that, but honestly, not all claims are supported with accurate citations, some are mere estimates only. Now, forgive me for doing this, but I will use estimates only just for the sake of this discussion. We will welcome this information just for the sake of having a hopefully meaningful conversation.

In Singapore, the total road network is roughly around 9,500 lane kilometers,^[1] in Seoul, it is between 8,100 and 8,200 kilometers,^[2] and here in Metro Manila, it is roughly around 5,000 kilometers.^[3] Now, what can we float from these numbers — number one, Metro Manila is definitely the last among these cities.

With that being said, should we support the creation of more expressways? Should we create more roads? Or should we stop already with roughly 5,000 kilometers as it may be deemed too much already?

Let's admit it, in Metro Manila — we are getting bigger and bigger, both as a population and also as an economy. Honestly, this is a positive sign, as more movement means more transactions and more transactions can hopefully mean more financial movement too, which is relatively great for our economy, right?

But the same question applies, how do we know if we already met the right number? Does Metro Manila need to also build at least 2,000 to 3,000 more roads, just to be at par with these other cities?

Luckily we have known conglomerates like San Miguel Corporation that continuously invest more in our beloved region. Imagine building more expressways, even on top of the river, creating a new international airport within the bounds of Manila bay, and also initiate more roads that expands the network of road systems in the country. Indeed, Maraming Salamat, SMC! Cheers, Gin Kings! Also, let's not forget the MRT7 is thanks to them, right?

If we pull up data from the recent months, Toyota Motor Philippines already sold 51,922 new vehicles for Q1 of this year. Simultaneously, Mitsubishi Motors Philippines already sold 20,600 and the rest of the manufacturers were able to sell a combined total of 33,120 units alone in Q1 of 2026.^[4]

Now, it's not just the automobile industry that is making a sale here but even motorcycle sales are also booming. In a report last 2025, about 1.23 million motorcycle units were sold for the end of August 2025 and at the same period in 2024, almost 1.1 million units were also sold.^[5] Indeed the economy is booming and more Filipinos are buying.

But seriously, do we even blame a typical Juan Dela Cruz if he or she decided to buy his or her own private transportation? Should we cancel any typical Juan Pedro Bautista if he decided to get both a motorcycle and a car, just to meet the demand of travelling from work to home and back? If you ask me, no.

Even I myself drive a car and ride a motorcycle in my daily life. Is it even my fault? Is it too much to say that we hate public transportation just because we have our own private vehicles?

I think it's unfair to immediately jump into that conclusion. Convenience is a necessity, and we live in a free market and we are a democratic republic — any Juan can buy whatever they want.

With that being said, when do we finally raise the white flag into the buying of automobiles and motorcycles in our region? When can we really admit that we are tired of buying new or old vehicles? Do we even achieve that? Honestly, can we really do that?

It's easy to say words like “support public transportation”, but if the public transportation itself is not being supported by its own government, how are we supposed to support it?

It's tough to ask Toyota, Mitsubishi, San Miguel to stop whatever services or products they offer to us Filipinos if no alternate option is presented.

I remember in exams during grade school, that usual choices are only letters A to D, and no E to Z — then how can we even use and promote letters E to Z if indeed our provided options are just only A, B, C, and D?

The duty of making these decisions lies not to the 14 million people. It does not lie within the normal commuter — that's way above our paycheck. But despite that, these same individuals are the same people that gets affected the most. And if they start doing their own ways of moving within the city, then we raise questions? Questions whether building more roads are necessary? Whether such a conglomerate is fine in building more expressways?

Transportation is the backbone of every economy. It is the daily lives of everyone, yet from the looks of it, it seems to be the least supported.

Can we really create a better Metro Manila without bettering our public transportation? Is it really possible to grow as a region despite the setbacks made due to our public transportation?