Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr has been criticised for using a presidential helicopter to attend a Coldplay concert north of the capital Manila, bypassing the area’s notorious traffic jams.
On social media, many accused the president of wasting taxpayers’ money, and pointed out that the public has to endure Metro Manila’s infamous traffic daily while commuting.
The Presidential Security Group said the Philippine Arena had “experienced an unprecedented influx of 40,000 individuals eagerly attending a concert, resulting in unforeseen traffic complications along the route”.
The traffic situation posed “a potential threat to the security of our president”, it said.
However, activist Renato Reyes described the decision as “a grave insult to millions of Filipino commuters”, adding that Metro Manila has been ranked as having the worst traffic in a recent international survey. “We are faced with a debilitating mass transport crisis that has caused terrible traffic and nightmare commutes for ordinary folks,” he said.
During Coldplay’s show, frontman Chris Martin joked about the traffic in Manila, and thanked the audience for persevering: “We’ve seen some traffic. But I think you have the number one [traffic] in the world. Thank you for making the effort to come through all of that bullshit to be here,” he said.
The 2023 TomTom Traffic Index recently named Metro Manila as the slowest metro area in a survey of 387 cities across 55 countries. On average, it takes 25 minutes and 30 seconds to travel 10km (six miles) in the capital region, according to the index.
In a column for the Philippine Star, Ana Marie T Pamintuan wrote: “Perhaps the horrendous traffic that forced the first couple to take a helicopter will end the state of denial in the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority about the Philippine capital region having the worst traffic congestion among ‘metros’ in the world.”
For the older generations, the incident had revived memories of Marcos’ father and mother, Pamintuan wrote. The late dictator Marcos Sr ruled the Philippines for two decades, and the family, known for their extravagance, were accused of plundering billions of dollars.
Others pointed out that Marcos Jr’s mode of travel contrasted with Coldplay’s wider efforts to make their shows as low-carbon as possible. According to Coldplay’s website, it has started using renewable energy to power their shows, and electric vehicles and alternative fuels where possible.
“All the effort of Coldplay and their team in promoting sustainability while on tour, finding a way to make that work here in the Philippines, only for this asshole to fly in a chopper probably funded by… take a wild guess…,” wrote one user on X, suggesting it was publicly funded travel.
