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Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Manila at the end of December

Photo:

Francis R. Malasig / EPA

The capital of the Philippines regularly sinks into traffic chaos.

It's only annoying when you have to quickly get from the presidential palace in Manila to the Coldplay concert in the north of the metropolis.

Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. apparently thought so too – and quickly took the helicopter for the normally 40-minute drive to the Philippine Arena.

The problem: Marcos Jr. and his wife were spotted arriving at the Hallenstadion.

There is now criticism in the Philippines because of this;

it's about the misuse of state resources.

The President's Office explained that there were unforeseen traffic complications.

The head of the presidential security service, Brigadier General Jesus Nelson Morales, spoke of "unprecedented" traffic volumes given the 40,000 concertgoers.

This would have posed a security risk for the president.

According to Morales, the helicopter was used because the safety and well-being of the president was of crucial importance.

Traffic was also an issue during Coldplay's concert, which took place on Friday.

Frontman Chris Martin thanked fans who made it through traffic, according to videos circulating online.

"We've seen some traffic, but I think you have the most traffic in the world," Martin said.

In one of the videos, Marcos Jr. can be seen grinning at the Coldplay singer's comments and then holding his hand to his face.

On social networks, people resent their president for using the helicopter to attend concerts instead of addressing the problems with public transport in the metropolis.

Marcos Jr.'s presidency is under particular scrutiny.

The 66-year-old, in office since June 2022, is the son of the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled under martial law, stole billions from the state treasury, disregarded human rights and had thousands killed extrajudicially.

In the 1990s the family returned from exile in Hawaii.

Three decades later, she lives again in the Malacañan, the official presidential residence.

End of jeepneys

The criticism of Marcos' helicopter flight is also so great because transport infrastructure is currently one of the dominant issues in the Philippines.

A new local transport line is expected to be built in Manila by 2025.

However, the planned end of the famous jeepneys is causing particular attention.

The jeepneys, which characterize the streets of the Philippines, were once assembled from old military jeeps and are an inexpensive main means of transport for millions of people in the Philippines.

A trip on one of the diesel buses only costs a few cents - but that's exactly where the problem lies.

Because the Philippines wants to become cleaner, private jeepney owners who cannot afford to convert their buses and have not formed cooperatives will no longer be allowed to use certain routes from February.

The Ministry of Transport had already ordered in 2017 that vehicles that were more than 15 years old should be replaced by imported minibuses.

For government loans or subsidies, drivers must join cooperatives or companies.

According to official figures, 76 percent of jeepney owners are said to have done this by the deadline on December 31st, and more than 1,700 cooperatives were founded.

However, activists are reportedly questioning these figures.

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