How will Las Piñas’ newly elected officials solve the city’s traffic jams?

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MANILA, Philippines – Citizens in Las Piñas have long complained of the consistent traffic in the city. How will newly elected city officials solve this problem?

As pointed out by residents, traffic is mostly felt on Alabang-Zapote Road, Marcos Alvarez Road, and Casimiro Road. Among these, the Alabang-Zapote Road is where they experience the heaviest traffic. 

The city is famous for its traffic jams, as numerous posts are published online. Citizens usually air out their frustrations on social media regarding the traffic they are experiencing in Las Piñas, especially on Alabang-Zapote Road.

After winning in the 2025 elections, Las Piñas Representative-elect Mark Anthony Santos told Rappler that he backs the LRT-1 extension as a solution to the city’s traffic problem. The project, called the LRT-1 Cavite Extension Segment 2, will consist of a Las Piñas station and a Zapote station.

“Dapat ituloy na yung LRT1 extension… Kailangan magkaroon pa ng comprehensive plan dito sa lungsod at ‘yan, uupuan namin,” he said.

(The LRT1 extension project should be continued… There should be a comprehensive plan for the city, we will work on that.)

“Of course, now as a representative of Las Piñas sa national government, I will ask the assistance of Department of Transportation, MMDA (Metropolitan Manila Development Authority),” he added.

During the 2025 campaign for local elections, other Las Piñas candidates had offered their own solutions to traffic jams.

In a forum attended by several candidates, former mayoral candidate Rey Rivera sought to prioritize housing and hospitalization services in the city, saying how people in District 2 do not usually make it to the hospital due to heavy traffic.

Former vice mayoral candidate Ping Arteta identified traffic as the main problem he wanted to find a solution to, given how the government has failed to alleviate it in the past years.

Former district representative candidate Barry Tayam had proposed the city adjust the schedules of students and employees so not all of them will be on the road at the same time. He also supported the establishment of a train station in the city as he sees how faster the travel will be with trains.

Traffic woes in the city

Traffic has been a longstanding problem for Las Piñas citizens, and there have been efforts to solve it, such as the construction of the 25-kilometer Las Piñas-Zapote River Drive. Outgoing Senator Cynthia Villar was the main proponent for the project, which was opened in phases and fully completed in 2021.

The road was constructed to alleviate flooding and traffic congestion, including the volume of vehicles on the Alabang-Zapote Road.

INAUGURATION. Senator Cynthia Villar and Congresswoman. Camille Villar led the inauguration of the River Drive. Photo from Senate of the Philippines.

The C5 Road South Extension Project was also constructed to reduce traffic when passing through Las Piñas and Parañaque to travel from Coastal Road to SLEX. Last year, the C5 Extension Quirino Flyover in Las Piñas was also opened to ease the traffic problems on the road below it on the way to Zapote, Paranaque City, and Coastal Road. 

Villar is also pinning hopes on the LRT-1 Cavite Extension Segment 2 project.

While there have been efforts to solve these issues, citizens continue to endure traffic jams, leading to loss of productivity and hours gone to waste.

ALABANG-ZAPOTE ROAD. Ongoing traffic in an intersection at Alabang-Zapote Road. Photo by Angela Ballerda.

Monique Candelario, a resident in the city, thinks that the lack of traffic lights is one of the causes of the traffic congestion, since traffic enforcers instead man the roads to make up for traffic lights.

“The buhos buhos method used by traffic enforcers causes more traffic congestion due to longer waiting times for each lane’s turn. Functional traffic lights should replace them to ensure equally timed turns,” she said.

Jeepney driver Vic Padua blames road construction for the traffic, as well as poor traffic management by traffic enforcers.

From our interviews with commuters and drivers in Las Piñas, all of them have the same answer as Candelario and Padua regarding the poor traffic management, lack of traffic lights, numerous road construction projects on narrow roads, and the large volume of cars.

Managing roads and systems

Retired police captain Jose Gonzales, chief of the Las Piñas Traffic and Management Office, said Mayor Imelda Aguilar had ordered an end to the buhos system in October 2024.

“Yung buhos system na ‘yan ay matagal na naming pinahinto with the utos ng ating mayor…mga last year yata yan kasi kung minsan alam mo naman ang mga enforcer natin kung minsan nakakaligtaan nila kasi kung may aksidente, mga emergency na nagagamit namin ‘yan (The buhos system has been long stopped as per the instruction of our mayor…it was last year but at times the enforcers forget and use it at times of emergency), ” he said.

When asked for the reason why the mayor put it to a halt, Gonzales said it was because the old system was just causing traffic, so he ordered the enforcers to do the one-three system instead.

Flaviano Potot Jr., a city traffic enforcer, said a new system was being used to manage vehicular flow.

“Wala na yung buhos system, pinagbawal na, hatak hatak na – yung hihilain mo mga sasakyan, t-tiempo ka lang na kapag kaunti na, maghila ka na ulit (There is no buhos system anymore, it was prohibited – hatak hatak na in which you will let other cars in this lane pass first, and if it’s already few, you pull again),” he said.

TRAFFIC. Cars on the way to Zapote waiting for enforcers to let them pass on Alabang-Zapote Road. Photo by Angela Ballerda

However, for jeepney drivers like Padua, the new system is very similar to the buhos system, and there is still traffic.

Due to the heavy traffic, some motorists and commuters choose to pass through shortcut routes to avoid traffic.

Francis Villanueva, a resident, shared that some shortcuts drivers use are those that go through Ohana, Moonwalk Village, and Pillar Village.

Will newly elected Las Piñas officials get closer to alleviating traffic in the city this time around? Citizens will be closely watching. – Rappler.com

Angela Ballerda is a Mover, or a Rappler civic engagement volunteer, from Las Piñas City. She is a campus journalist at Ateneo de Manila University, currently serving as the Broadcast News Producer of The GUIDON.

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