PERTH, AUSTRALIA – NOVEMBER 18: Chris Martin of Coldplay performs on phase at Optus Stadium on November 18, 2023 in Perth, Australia. (Photograph by Paul Kane/Getty Pictures)
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The chief of the Philippines has landed himself in difficulty soon after applying a presidential helicopter to bypass heavy visitors and make it to a Coldplay live performance.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his wife were being found driving a chopper last Friday to the Philippine Arena— the world’s major indoor arena — just north of Manila, the country’s notoriously site visitors-major cash.
He before long acquired backlash from some social media users, who questioned Marcos’ use of taxpayers’ dollars and criticized him for not fixing transportation difficulties in the state.
“What he showed was a stark contrast to what lots of ordinary Filipino concertgoers had to go by means of,” Nick Villavecer told NBC News on Monday by way of text message, incorporating that he was “utterly let down” but not surprised.
Villavecer said he still left property seven hours before the live performance in a carpool with other supporters in purchase to steer clear of anticipated visitors jams.
“We have listened to of some horrible stories of persons remaining trapped in the traffic and missing the very first half of the former concerts,” he stated. “If the location was much more accessible, we wouldn’t have to spend several hours waiting exterior.”
MANILA, PHILIPPINES – JANUARY 10: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at Malacanang Palace on January 10, 2024 in Manila, Philippines. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his wife had been viewed using a chopper very last Friday to the Philippine Arena— the world’s largest indoor arena — just north of Manila, the country’s notoriously targeted visitors-weighty capital. (Picture by Ezra Acayan/Getty Illustrations or photos)
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In reaction to the wave of on the internet criticism, Major Normal Nelson Morales, who heads the Presidential Protection Command, explained in a assertion Saturday that the security agency “took decisive motion by opting for the presidential chopper.”
The arena expert “an unparalleled inflow of 40,000 persons eagerly attending a concert, ensuing in unforeseen visitors problems,” which experienced posed a possible menace to the leader’s security, Morales included.
The assertion did small to stem the backlash, on the other hand.
“If his protection team discovered the scenario as unsafe and dangerous for the president and his family members, then he shouldn’t have long gone there to get started with,” claimed Villavecer.
“When the commuters have been struggling for number of a long time, you have no ‘decisive action,'” Filipino activist Renato Reyes Jr. mentioned on X. “Please expose how a lot general public money was expended on this trip.”
Reyes is a frequent critic of Marcos, who is the son and namesake of the country’s late ousted dictator.
Manila’s congestion dilemma was not dropped on Coldplay, with the band’s lead vocalist Chris Martin thanking enthusiasts for “building the energy to pull through” the site visitors for the concert, although Marcos was in the audience, in accordance to a movie that was shared widely on social media.
“We’ve witnessed some website traffic, but I feel you have the amount one in the globe,” he mentioned.
On the subsequent evening, the singer-songwriter executed an impromptu tune about the targeted traffic condition.
“There is only actually just one matter that continues to be. The visitors right here in Manila is completely crazy,” Martin explained, major enthusiasts to cheer.
“If you want to push someplace then I alert you. A two-mile drive requires a week or two,” Martin included.
Logjams have been a persistent issue for Filipinos. Manila ranked initial in the 2023 TomTom Targeted traffic Index list of metro spots amongst 400 metropolitan areas all over the world, which was released before this thirty day period.
In 2023, it would get motorists in the city 25 minutes to travel each 6 miles, in accordance to the traffic facts supplier, as opposed to 13 minutes for motorists in New York City — the slowest vacation time in the U.S.
Some concertgoers reported they hoped the authorities could fix the website traffic troubles as shortly as achievable.
“We genuinely only hope that significant action be taken and count on benefits from our authorities, specifically now that it is been known as out by a international artist, so they is not going to be discouraged to occur and take a look at Manila,” reported Mikaela Lopez, who also recorded and posted the video of Martin conversing about the targeted traffic on TikTok.
Past Friday, the Philippine Section of Transportation responded to the position on TomTom, indicating that the authorities would be “artistic at obtaining previous remedies” to the congestion.
