Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Chief Supt. Arnold Gunnacao, director of the Highway Patrol Group (HPG), admitted that the police unit was unprepared to handle the massive gridlock on EDSA last Tuesday night (September 8) which left thousands of motorists and commuters stranded.
The HPG, which was tasked to lead traffic management on EDSA, was not able to deal with scenarios of heavy rain and flooding as it lacked information on flood-prone areas on the thoroughfare, Gunnacao told CNN Philippines’ Headline News on Wednesday (September 9).
Although the HPG has anticipated such a scenario, it was late in asking for the information from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).
“We requested a copy, we requested from the MMDA the list of areas which might be affected by flooding. Unfortunately, our request was late. And we were not able to get the feedback immediately,” he said.
Heavy downpour, lasting over an hour, resulted in knee-deep floods at Magallanes, Buendia, and Guadalupe, according to Gunnacao. He added that both light and heavy vehicles were not allowed to pass through the flooded areas and were told to take alternate routes instead.
Related: Govt’s proposed solution to EDSA traffic: Ban cars with less than 3 passengers
Passengers caught in the standstill had no choice but to endure the traffic. Some even posted on social media that they spent at least three hours on the road.
Last night. The worst part of being commuters is to stuck up in traffic for about 3 hours. Wtf? Edsa? Wtf? 090815 pic.twitter.com/0dJ8ngIVKj
— Fhey Tayag (@fheytayag) September 9, 2015
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Heartbreaking post on last night's traffic: "I didnt get to see my kids because of the 4 hour drive home". Tsk manila.
— Ronan Capili (@47Ronan) September 9, 2015
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Others described their experience as a nightmare.
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Been waiting for over two hours now and wondering if I need to sell my soul to Satan just to get a ride out of BGC
— Jovan (@captainkubang) September 8, 2015
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The nightmare that is EDSA! An image from yesterday's traffic
situation. 😢😢😢 pic.twitter.com/HFtd6YvJys—
Rajo Laurel (@rajolaurel) September
9, 2015
#EDSA
situation right now. Nacacaloca! Parking lot levels! 😱 📷 Christian Miranda
pic.twitter.com/Wrtk6HAp4e—
𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐊𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐳𝐲 (@krizzy_kalerqui) September
8, 2015
Gunnacao also denied claims saying that HPG personnel stopped manning traffic at midnight on Wednesday.
He said that HPG personnel continued to enforce traffic at that time, but may have gone unnoticed as they were wearing ponchos without reflectors.
Related: Following road rules amid heavy rain and bad traffic
“Honestly, the ponchos they were wearing don’t have any reflectorized thing on it so they’re not really seen. But our motorcycle riders are always there. They diverted [motorists] out of EDSA and looked for some alternate routes to lead them out of EDSA.”
Gunnacao said the HPG will be having a meeting on Wednesday “to delineate the respective roles of the agencies involved in fixing the traffic problem.”
Among the plans he has in mind is the transfer of several bus stops. He explained that the bus stops were wrongly placed on narrow roads which aggravates traffic congestion.
