Stranded motorists endure hunger, fatigue in almost 24-hour traffic in NLEX

Hundreds of motorists endured 24 hours of traffic at the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), with some experiencing hunger and fatigue after they were stranded by floods caused by Habagat rains.

In a 24 Oras report from Jun Veneracion on Tuesday, truck driver Edgardo Viray was emotional. He had been running low on diesel and money. He had only a few coins left to spare after buying six pieces of pandesal for his assistant and himself.

“Gutom, puyat, pagod… ‘yung bang halos bumigay na nga ako,” Viray said. (Hunger, lack of sleep, fatigue… it’s like I am about to give in.)

His wife and his grandchild were getting worried about him, Viray said.

He just had to endure, he added.

The GMA News team was able to give Viray some food. Viray’s companion eventually returned with some diesel and they were finally able to resume their trip.

On Tuesday, the flood underneath the Tulaoc Bridge and San Simon Interchange had not subsided because of the overflow of the Pampanga River. Other motorists are still trying to get to their destination.

What used to be a minutes-long journey from San Fernando to San Simon became two hours.

One driver told GMA News that he should have already been at work, while another was a student who was about to miss his class.

It was not just motorists who were affected, however, with businesses experiencing delays in deliveries. One truck driver was meant to deliver chickens to a factory— but some of them have already died on the road due to the intense heat.

While the number of motorists have lowered since the weekend, traffic has not completely returned to normal.

Several motorists asked if the toll could be waived or at least reduced to the bad conditions. However, there is still no word on whether this could happen.

“Definitely our management is talking about this but we do not have advice on that yet,” NLEX Corp. AVP for Traffic Operations Robin Ignacio said.

Motorists of smaller vehicles are advised to exit in Balagtas or Santa Rita towards Maharlika Highway. —Jean Mangaluz/RF, GMA News