MANILA - Traffic congestion remains a perennial challenge in Metro Manila, but things are about to change by the end of the year, President Rodrigo Duterte said Saturday.

He claimed that travel between Cubao to Makati, which currently needs at least an hour on EDSA, could be reduced to 5 minutes.

"You just wait. Ayaw kong mag-ano. Things will improve. Maybe god-willing December smooth sailing na," he said in a television interview over Sonshine Media Network.

"You don't have to worry about traffic. Cubao and Makati is just about 5 minutes na lang."

It was serendipitous, Duterte said, he visited China.

"Mabuti nalang nagpunta ako ng China. China nagtulong," he said.

Since assuming presidency, the President has sought closer ties with Asia’s largest economy and veered away from the country's oldest ally the United States.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) had said that major infrastructure projects are under way. Among are the Metro Manila Skyway Stage (MMSS3) and NLEX-SLEX Connector Road Project, which would help decongest the Metro Manila traffic.

The MMSS3 is a 17.38-kilometer elevated expressway from Gil Puyat Avenue in Makati City to North Luzon Expressway in Balintawak, Quezon City.

The MMSS3 viaduct will connect the South Luzon Expressway and the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and intends to decongest main thoroughfares in the central Metro Manila area, particularly EDSA, by as many as 50,000 cars.