MANILA - President-elect Rodrigo Duterte is seriously considering installing cable cars in Metro Manila to ease crippling traffic jams, his incoming transportation secretary said Tuesday.

Initial talks are ongoing with a company that supplies 35-seater cable cars for commuters in South America and once approved, the new mode of transportation for the capital’s 12 million people will be operational in 18 months, incoming minister Arthur Tugade said.

“Pag nagdagdag tayo ng kalsada at nag-construct tayo, lalong makaka-traffic. Kung gusto mo ng additional capacity, pumunta ka sa itaas,” Tugade told ANC’s “Headstart.”

"Suffice to say, for the moment, that is seriously being looked into," he said, adding the project could be implemented first in the Pasig and Makati business districts.

Duterte, who will assume office on Thursday, will ask Congress for “special powers” to solve traffic congestion that has reached “crisis” proportions.

This includes opening subdivision roads to traffic and doing away with public bidding for some infrastructure projects.

The Philippines loses an estimated 2.4 billion pesos a day due to traffic congestion, according to a study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).