MMDA: Olympic heroes welcome parade will wrap up before rush hour

MANILA, Philippines — The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) assured the public that the welcome parade for the homecoming Filipino Olympic heroes will be finished before the rush hour on Wednesday.

MMDA chief Don Artes said the motorcade will start at 3 p.m. from Aliw Theater to Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila.

“Pilitin natin na matapos before 5:00 [p.m.], para before rush hour ay tapos na po ang parada at programa,” Artes said in a press conference Tuesday.

(We will see to it that by 5:00 p.m., or before rush hour, the parade and program will be finished.)

READ: Olympic heroes homecoming parade to affect 7 Manila roads

Meet the Team Philippines for the Paris Olympics 2024 Summer Games.

Artes also said they don’t expect the parade to cause that big of an impact on the traffic flow around Metro Manila.

“Hindi naman masyado, kasi stop and go lang naman tayo. Habang lumalapit ang parada sa isang lugar, magii-stop tayo para dere-derecho. After naman makalampas, igo-go naman na natin,” Artes explained.

(Not that much, because we will implement a stop and go scheme. While the parade is coming closer in the area, we will stop the traffic. Then when the parade passes by, we will impose “go” on the traffic.)

“We don’t expect na ganoon kabigat ang idudulot ng ating parada,” he added.

(We don’t expect the parade to cause that much of a heavy impact on traffic.)

READ: Hero’s welcome for Carlos Yulo-led PH Olympians set Aug 14

These roads will be affected by the parade: V. Sotto Street, Roxas Boulevard, P. Burgos Avenue, Finance Road, Taft Avenue, Pres. Quirino Ave., and Adriatico St.

However, Artes said the convoy is estimated to last for five minutes in each of the said streets.

Meanwhile, Artes said that no security threats are being monitored so far.