The look going in

The lobby guard instructing the incoming vehicle how to come in properly.

The back end of our parking lot, as you see it was a hot sunny day.

Waters in the streets usually herald the end of the hot days of summer and play time for the kids.

But not here: there are no kids as this is the front of my office, the Department of Budget and Management Building 1. And, the water you see there comes from Pasig River so play at your own peril. Furthermore, it did not rain that day at least from our area.

From the shoreline you would never guess that water is already filling the lots outlining the Pasig River because it doesn’t overflow, it seeps back (going under) through the drainage. Should drainage be able to do that?  And as I pondered what went wrong, I found out that water was also present in the road leading to SM Manila.   

In both cases the water was not high enough to cause major inconvenience; it was only just a momentary nuisance.  If any good came out of this was that it cooled our office corridors cause when the water receded by early afternoon it was scorching hot again.

Bring on the rain!!!

(I wanted to edit Coup Holidays because it sounded bad to me, and this is what I came up with.  For, thinking such writing would never see the light of day in a government newsletter, I gave it to my boss because I was facing deadlines. It did (or will) see the light of day, minus a few names and harsh words. Well here are the words in entirety.  Here's to living somewhat dangerously in dangerous times.)

One cold December night I was watching the Return of the King on DVD when in the scene where Aragorn was meeting an army of the dead, I got a crazy idea.

Maybe this was what the Manila Pen Siege was all about; Sen. Trillanes, ala-Aragorn, beseeching the ghost of Andres Bonifacio to lead an army of dead Philippine revolutionaries to help him capture the leadership of this country.

Crazy idea, indeed.  I only came up with it because I failed coming up with a sane one on why a Navy Lieutenant (now Senator) would repeat the same tactic with far less arms and personnel, on a red letter date, and still have the audacity to think that people would “join” him.

Normally, I am the type who would repeat movies over and over again as I did with Return of the King.  I do it because I like the story; because I want to feel good again.

What I don’t understand is why anyone would repeat a sad pathetic story like the Oakwood Mutiny? Why the replay in Makati?

As that question ran through my head I realized that the Senator was not alone. We are all as a nation stuck in replays; one sad story, running in a loop.

Case in point, when January came into its first weeks, we hear the familiar ring of destabilization in the air; tentatively, the headlines point out it should have happened on Anniversary of Edsa II (Jan 20) and Mendiola Massacre (Jan 22).  Add to that, like the January before this, the legislature replays the deadlock in the passage of the General Appropriations Act.

The destabilization plot is a stranger one for me because I haven’t gotten over the stupidity of the last one, which happened barely two months ago.  Why give predictability in the toppling of a government?

Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese general and author of the Art of War said that deception and surprise are key elements in War.  Apparently, these “plotters” have not heard of him.

But then the same can be said of the government.  Why do they keep tipping their hand and say ‘a plot is afoot’? I doubt that it’s for the benefit of the investigation as news that a plot is no secret would certainly drive plotters underground.  Isn’t it time for a new approach right now because obviously success has been elusive.

What more can be said of the nearly annual song of a reenacted budget.  How many a January have we said ‘reenacted’?  How many times have we heard ‘pork’ as the issue?

I am one of millions who are praying (again) for the passage of the GAA and get my much needed salary increase.  I am not alone in being saddened in hearing this sad news again. Besides, didn’t someone say too much pork is bad for you?

In the movies there is an art to making something seemingly new – I believe they call them ‘sequels’. What we see in our news is often branded as sequels; something is new, something improved; this is the best way to achieve our dreams; or a new dawn is approaching.

All are replays in the end.  The true test is not the story but heart that always knows an old story without remembering much of a scene, script, or in this case, the points of a news story.

Are we a happy nation refreshed with hope and excited with the approach of something new?

On that note, I believe we have found the saddest story in our nation of replays: the people.  We are a nation that fails as a people to grab the “remote” and ‘change that channel’.

What’s next?  My calendar shows February.  What could be on the 25^th I wonder?  Anyone interested in May 1?

I’d give a fearless forecast but I grow tired of this show.

Surprise Me!

What’s five minutes to a busy man?  A lot, it would seem, if Manny Pacquiao would be believed; Scheduling difficulties (maybe mishap is the appropriate word) being the top reason floated around to quell the firestorm that resulted from his ‘snubbing’ the City of Manila.

He is a national icon and fresh from a boxing victory that made the Philippines proud.  It’s a safe bet that every Filipino in the land (or abroad) wanted to shake his hand immediately after defeating Barrera, but unfortunately there’s not enough of Manny to go around. 

But we’re not talking about one day or even literally shaking every hand in the Philippines.  Would five minutes really hurt as much? 

Manny Pacquiao on his return day went to the office of his close ally Lito Atienza at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Quezon City.  At rush hour travel time would have taken an hour at least, maybe less if you avoided the main roads.  Manny had arrived from the US in the morning so I assume traffic was reasonably light; maybe even lighter if he had some police escorts with him.

After the DENR secretary was no less than the President of the land, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in Malacañang.  It’s a long travel from Quezon City to Manila, and can even reach nightmarish proportions if you use España; but, Manny went.  News of the boxer’s arrival at the palace reached the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), where I work, placing his arrival around 10 a.m.

The place where Manny opted not to go that day, the Manila City Hall, is almost quite literally, a stone’s throw away.  DBM is located somewhere in between.  From my office I can reach the city hall on foot in 10 minutes or less; and equal time it would take me to walk to the palace.  With cars, traveling from Malacañang to Manila City Hall, would take less than 5 minutes.

No Manny.  He remained in the palace asking for “national unity” of all things.

Scheduling mishap or not; why didn’t Pacquiao’s handlers give enough wiggle room to the City of Manila which has been accustomed to welcoming him.  It would have been more surprising (and a political suicide) if Mayor Alfredo Lim not give him the usual welcoming motorcade.

Even if it was the fault of the Mayor in not advising Manny’s camp, what’s five minutes?  Refuse a motorcade, its expensive anyway; but just pass through going home from Malacañang.  Give a token appearance; Manny care’s for his fans right?  Why should a trivial thing such as a schedule get in the way of giving the common man - the true fan - a few short minutes of seeing their beloved Manny?

For that matter, why should a trivial thing such as a schedule get in the way of “national unity”?

I don’t follow boxing, I never have.  Because of my lack of interest in the sport I fail to appreciate Manny’s talent, but as a Filipino I fully appreciate his effect on people.  What made me react was because I am disappointed that he had to sully his reputation by his desire to enter politics; a world that he does not know; a world that he doesn’t even have the intellectual prowess to survive in.

Unlike the politicians he so much desires to be, Manny Pacquiao does not have the talent of making excuses.  A few years back, Mayor Binay of Makati was also guilty of ‘scheduling mishaps’.  It seems city mayors of one political group can’t even do a simple thing as fixing schedules and making appointments, or is it Manny who is the problem?

Besides if Manny is truly for the people whatever happened to re-scheduling? 

My parents and good old Sesame Street taught me how to cross a street; look left first and then right, cross when it’s (more or less) clear.

Those childhood lessons were valid up to at least three to five years ago when intersections littered the streets; one intersection is found virtually in every crossroad in the city’s highways. 

Since X road cannot be in motion at the same time as road Y; thus what could be a steady stream of traffic is cut in regular intervals.   Looking left and right was valid because you were sure to get a safe chance to cross.  Problem was in the rush hour those regular stops became only one, a traffic jam or jams, since it was a city wide epidemic. 

Perhaps going on the reasoning that the accumulation of intersections and incidence of illegal loading and unloading exacerbate the traffic flow, MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando initiated a novel idea of placing U-Turns at major intersections of city roads.   The idea was a modified version of a Rotonda; instead of placing circular roads in every intersection you have in place are U-turns.  Like a Rotonda, in a U-turn traffic is always in motion albeit chaotic.

The idea worked and soon the former Mayor of Marikina had every intersection closed in places that can be managed; people will now use the U-turns.  When before the length of the Quezon Avenue from Edsa to Welcome Rotonda had ten intersections (Welcome, D. Tuazon, Banawe, Araneta, Scout Chuatoco, Roosevelt Avenue, West Avenue, Scout Boromeo, Examiner, and Edsa), it now has only one: Araneta. 

Traffic did improve somewhat at least from the roads that I regularly use: Quezon Avenue to Edsa, and from Edsa to Fairview.  Even with the regular undisciplined jeepney drivers still stopping at corners, the fact that all transportation was obligated to move constantly helped ease up the congestion. 

It is not a perfect solution by any stretch of the imagination.   U-turn slots were messy with its roadblocks, and even scary especially those found in the commonwealth avenue area.  Even as a passenger I find it a frightening prospect trying to get into a five lane highway of cars running at full speed.  Well, come to think of it if cars are speeding then maybe the traffic scheme has worked.

Bayani Fernando needs to be complemented for making an effort.  Trying to make sweeping changes is not an easy thing to do with a country of undisciplined commuters and drivers.

Unfortunately I am not all praises because the good chairman forgot one important aspect of transportation, traveling, and communicating: some people do walk.  People still need to cross the streets but how they could right now with stoplights and intersections.

Lucky for me the places that I need to go to in the entire length of Q Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue are easy to cross.  D Tuazon, Fairview, and Roxas District, though hard to cross, are bearable enough because of its little volume; while Ever Commonwealth and Philcoa have overpasses but not all may be as lucky as I.   Not all the points between Welcome Rotonda and Fairview have overpasses, and it’s a sure bet that people have lost lives crossing it. 

I am the paranoid sort who will not trust the ability of the driver to see me nor will I trust his ability to care for his brake pads; that is why I wait as much as I can for an all clear.  Without intersections, all clear, takes a lot of time.

So was it a mistake to establish u-turns?  Aesthetically yes; and intersection definitely looks better than a hole in the island of the road; especially those roadblocks that occupy almost the middle of the street. As to whether the traffic truly improved or if safety should be a general concern; a serious transportation study by experts would determine that, scientifically.

But at face value it seems u-turns are a good idea; but, my only wish, maybe me and a few others is to consider the lowly pedestrian.  Can we add a few more overpasses or reduce the number of U-turns.

With the state of the road, nowadays, looking left and right before crossing is no help against cars doing 90.