Epifanio de los Santos Avenue
The Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) ( Filipino : Abenida Epifanio de los Santos ) is an important thoroughfare in Metro Manila .
The largely ten-lane bypass road, formerly known as Highway 54, extends over a length of 23.8 km. It surrounds the actual city center of Manila in a semicircle and runs through the cities of Pasay , Makati , Mandaluyong , Quezon City and Caloocan , which are part of Metro Manila . For almost the entire length of the EDSA, line 3 of the MRT runs along the same route, mostly between the two lanes. A roundabout in front of the Mall of Asia marks the southern end of the EDSA in Pasay, or to be more precise the extension that was subsequently built . In Caloocan, the roundabout at the Bonifacio Monument represents the northern end of the EDSA.
In terms of traffic volume, EDSA is the most important traffic artery in the Metro Manila area. On the busiest sections in the south, in the Makati area, up to 360,000 vehicles are counted daily, whereas the capacity is designed for only 160,000 vehicles per day. During the rush hour in the early morning and in the late afternoon, permanent traffic jams shape the image of the EDSA. A drive of just 18 km from Quezon City to Makati takes about 2.5 hours during this time. The areas around bus stops are particularly critical. In a new attempt to better regulate the traffic chaos, the HPG - Highway Patrol Group department of the Philippine Police PNP has taken over traffic monitoring at the EDSA since September 2015 .
Earlier names
When the street was built in the 1940s under President Manuel Quezon , it was first named June 19 (June 19), after the birthday of the Filipino national hero Jose Rizal . However, after the end of World War II, when the Philippines was occupied by the United States, the Americans renamed the street Highway 54 . This name lasted until 1959, when the street was finally given its current name in honor of a well-known personality. Epifanio de los Santos (actually Epifanio de los Santos y Cristóbal) was a Filipino historian, intellectual, literary critic, lawyer and antiquarian. In 1925, three years before his death, he was appointed director of the National Museum of the Philippines and the National Library.
Importance in Filipino History
In recent Filipino history, the EDSA has played a role as the scene of peaceful demonstrations that toppled two Filipino presidents. On the one hand the EDSA revolution in 1986 against the regime of Ferdinand Marcos , and the protests, also known as the EDSA II revolution , which ultimately led to the overthrow of President Joseph Estrada in 2001 .