Marcos postpones EDSA rehab

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Sunday announced the postponement of the EDSA rehabilitation that was supposed to begin on June 13.

Marcos said the project needs to be studied for one month to know if there are new technologies that can be used to hasten the rehabilitation of the 23.8-kilometer road.

“Pause muna doon sa ating rehabilitation. Huwag muna nating gagawin dahil pag tinitingnan natin yung cost-benefit and analysis, maganda sana kung maayos natin. Ngunit ang laking sakripisyo nu'ng dalawang taon. Masyadong mabigat, mahigpit ang traffic,” Marcos said in a video posted by Super Radyo dzBB.

JUST IN: Pang. @bongbongmarcos, ipinag-utos ang pagpapaliban ng EDSA Rebuild upang muli itong mapag-aralan. | via @SurfaceCarlo pic.twitter.com/LElw3btVKG

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) June 1, 2025

(Let us pause the rehabilitation. If we look at the cost-benefit analysis, it would be good, but two years is a big sacrifice since there would be heavy traffic.)

“Bigyan natin ang sarili natin ng isang buwan. Pag-aralan natin itong bagong teknolohiya na nakikita natin. Gumawa tayo ng magandang plano. Baka naman imbes na dalawang taon, magawa natin sa isang buwan. Tingnan natin kung anong available sa atin,” he added.

(Let us give ourselves one month to study the new technologies that are out there. Let us make a better plan to shorten the construction period. Perhaps it would only take one month instead of two years. Let us see what’s available to us.)

The President also noted that many motorists will experience difficulty in traveling once the rehabilitation begins.  

The Department of Transportation earlier said heavy traffic is expected once the EDSA rehabilitation begins. It was expected to last until 2027.

In her report on 24 Oras Weekend on Sunday, Darlene Cay said Marcos fears of a possible "carmageddon" if the rehabilitation takes place on June 13 and how the expected heavier traffic would affect peoples' livelihood due to the longer commute.

"(The President) said to go back to the drawing boards... because he has listened to the concerns of the residents of Metro Manila and he has also listened to experts who have informed him na merong mas epektibong paraan at may makabagong teknolohiya na sabi nga niya na puede natin gawin itong mas mabilis (He has also listened to experts who have informed him that there are more effective ways and modern technologies that he said could be used to make things faster)," said DOTr chief Dizon. 

Motorists had mixed reactions to Marcos' decision. One said government should look for more solutions thru experiments while another said he felt that despite all the proposals to improve traffic, nothing has changed.

The announcement means that the proposed Odd-Even Scheme for EDSA that is part of the traffic management plan has been cancelled. The Number Coding Scheme will continue to remain in effect.

GMA Integrated News has reached out to the Department of Public Works and Highways for comment but has yet to receive a reply.

The allotted budget for the EDSA rehabilitation that aims to modernize the major thoroughfare and make it flood-free is almost P8 billion.

Postponement welcomed 

Some senators expressed support for the postponement of the EDSA rehabilitation, citing that it could cause heavy traffic and inconvenience to motorists and commuters.

In a statement, Senator Joel Villanueva said the government should conduct an extensive consultation with all affected sectors.

“This would also allow all concerned government agencies to come up with more viable and inclusive solutions to cushion the impact on traffic,” he said.

Senator Grace Poe noted that without adequate preparation, some portions of EDSA would result in “mayhem” where both commuters and motorists could suffer. 

“We trust that the following weeks will be spent laying down a comprehensive and efficient plan for traffic management when the rehabilitation is rolled out,” Poe said in a separate statement. 

Senator JV Ejercito, meanwhile, proposed that the EDSA rehabilitation be postponed until the North-South Commuter Line and the Metro Manila Subway System are fully operational.

“I believe these will serve as efficient alternatives to private vehicles, making such a large-scale rehabilitation less disruptive to the public,” Ejercito said in a social media post. —RF/KG, GMA Integrated News