Presidential sister Kris Aquino (right) and People’s Champ Manny Pacquiao ride the Metro Rail Transit at the height of Wednesday’s traffic gridlock. For both celebrities, it was a rare chance to share the same mass transit that millions of Metro Manila residents take regularly.
Presidential sister Kris Aquino (right) and People’s Champ Manny Pacquiao ride the Metro Rail Transit at the height of Wednesday’s traffic gridlock. For both celebrities, it was a rare chance to share the same mass transit that millions of Metro Manila residents take regularly.

High-profile celebrities were among the thousands caught in the massive traffic gridlock that gripped Metro Manila onTuesday night.

Traffic was hardly moving in many parts of the metropolis including Edsa, after a hard downpour flooded several streets.

To avoid being late for their appointments, Queen of All Media Kris Aquino, and world boxing champ, Saranggani Rep. Manny Pacquiao, left behind their cars and hopped into the Metro Rail Transit (MRT).

Aquino, who posted photos of her “memorable experience” on Instagram, was scheduled to host an event at the Shangri-La Mall in Mandaluyong City, right next to the MRT’s Shaw Blvd. station.

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Before riding the train, Aquino posted a photo of the traffic on Edsa with the caption: “45 mins & we haven’t moved. Parking lot level ang Edsa. Sorry Lucky Me Kainang Pamilya Short Film Awards.”

There was another picture of her waiting in line at an unidentified MRT station, which she captioned: “MRT! Habol sa Lucky Me event!”

Aquino was referring to Lucky Me’s awards night of the Kainang Pamilya Mahalaga, Hapag-usapan short film competition.

Once inside the train, she posted a “selfie,” or a self photograph, captioning it, “Me on the MRT. Made it to the awarding ceremony . . . People were so NICE. What a memorable experience!”

A source from the events public relations company that handled the event said Aquino “arrived at 8 p.m. just in time for the awarding.”

Pacquiao took the MRT on the way to a Christian fellowship at the Dolphy Theater in the ABS-CBN broadcast complex. According to ABS-CBNNews.com, he boarded at the Ayala Station with his bodyguards and got down at the Kamuning Station. Still unable to get a ride, Pacquiao walked to the broadcast center.

“Sobrang traffic, so naglakad kaming puntang MRT. Bumaba kami sa Kamuning, tapos naglakad kami papunta dito,” Pacquiao at the ABS-CBNNews.com report. “Anything, basta Word of God,” he added.

The MRT rides of Aquino and Pacquiao had the social network humming.

Manila’s tourism consultant Carlos Celdran, he posted on Twitter: “BRAVO Kris Aquino for taking the MRT. I’m now a fan. Now that’s what role models do. BRAVO. BRAVO. BRAVO.

Other tweets were tinged with cynicism.

From Activist Renato Reyes Jr.: “Kris Aquino rides the MRT and calls it a memorable experience. Commuters call it daily life. #classperspective”

“I think the fact that well-known celebrities like @krisaquino214 and Cong Manny Pacquiao took the MRT last night is proof of bad our traffic,” posted @jacquelinemegan.

Dinna Vasquez, @mariadinna wrote: “‘Kris Aquino takes MRT.’ Good, maybe she can tell her brother about the sub-human conditions that commuters have to endure twice a day.”

Besides Aquino and Pacquiao, another celebrity who was stranded by the heavy traffic was Sharon Cuneta.

The Megastar shared her plight on Twitter: “Am just about to have dinner. Spent more than 3 hrs. in traffic. Thank God I was able to sleep cos now I’m sick. My driver & bodyguard are coughing too. Direk Joel lost his voice & also wasn’t feeling well. Praying for the many people I saw in the streets—they must be stranded & unable to get home. Hope u are all okay.”