Holy Week and the state of traffic

Everyone knows that in the Philippines, the state of traffic is absolutely horrifying. Add to the equation that us Filipinos love holidays and we considerably have lots of them. Now, those two combined, makes a good recipe of frustration and inconvenience to most motorists.

The Christmas season, “Undas”, and the Holy Week or “Semana Santa” are all celebrated here in the Philippines. During these holidays, people mostly travel back home or out-of-town, thus making the state of traffic heavier than usual.

That is why during the season of “Semana Santa”, authorities and concerned groups conduct road guidance to help ease the adverse effects of road blockage, made heavier during the peak days that people travel for the holidays.

Now here in Bulacan, there’s this place infamous for its traffic that seems to be always at its worst: the Bocaue exit/Sta.Maria border. For the Holy Week 2017, The Archives visited the said area to check on its road state.

8:30 in the morning of Holy Wednesday, there was visibly an underwhelming state of traffic in the area. This surprised even Mary Joy Salazar, a resident of Cubao, coming to visit Bustos, Bulacan for the holidays.

“Isang oras na ako naghihintay dito, e. Akala ko sobrang trapik, kaya inagahan ko talaga ang punta. Ngayon hinihintay ko ‘yong kasamahan kong galing Pampanga. Nagulat talaga ko kasi akala ko mata-trapik ako,” said Salazar.

Even Mariano Sobrecarey, a barker of UV Express vans in the area thought that the traffic could be much worse. After dealing with it almost every day, Sobrecarey was already prepared for the heaviest of traffic jams.

“Pangkaraniwan na kasi talagang trapik riyan. Daming intersection kasi rito e. Tapos masikip talaga ang kalsada. From Bocaue to Sta.Maria matrapik talaga, dati sa Balagtas, e. Tapos di pa marunong yong mga nagta-trapik dito, mga baguhan. Kaya baka sa mga susunod na araw pa, do’n talaga yong dagsa ng trapik,” stated Sobrecarey.

“Based do’n sa mga past experience ko ‘pag nag-o-out-of-town kami tuwing Semana Santa, yes, lumalala ang traffic kasi nga umuuwi sa kani-kanilang probinsya ang mga tao. Same din siya pabalik, madalas mas heavy pa nga. I think ngayong gabi start na siya, pero mas malala bukas,” Jardine Corpuz, a resident of Pulong Buhangin, Sta.Maria, shared.

Heavy traffic is also expected in other Bulacan areas like Tabang in Guiguinto, Kapitangan in Paombong, and Balagtas, this Semana Santa.