And this was yesterday. Today - wonder of wonders! - it is actually worse. From the window of my flat, I can see that the long artery connecting the Central Business District to the rest of the city has transformed into one long parking lot, going west then veering north along the river in one long unbroken chain of stopped cars.

Yes, this city is literally having a heart attack.

Caused by what? What else - the government’s brilliant decision to close down, for 16 hours, a section of our already perennially-clogged main thoroughfare EDSA in order to commemorate the anniversary of the 1986 People Power Revolution that overthrew the dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Without actually canceling work. The irony is so obvious and on so many levels, it’s hard to start writing about. Meanwhile, millions of workers around the city are either stuck on the road or have given up and returned or stayed home.