I often have things to rant and rave about the Philippines with no venue to vent them through. The notoriety gained by the Philippines as often perpetuated by media is unfortunate as I believe that there is just as much good and beautiful as there is bad and ugly to focus on and proclaim to the world. While I believe in the watchdog-role of media, the seemingly rabid attention on the negatives serves to negate the rich heritage, the abundant resources, the natural wonders, the man-made marvels, and the inherent talents and characteristics of the people.
Nonetheless, there are many things that are often and fatalistically blamed on “culture” or “the system” that are ignored and even accepted as a way of life. And I believe that it is in the smaller things where the change must start.
As such, I embark on this blog to chronicle my personal observations, views and sentiments on places I visit, events I witness and people I meet that move me or otherwise affect me personally and Philippine society in general. While I will try to focus on the good and the beautiful, I will inevitably touch on the bad and the ugly. For this, I apologize ahead of time. Otherwise, I hope this helps or serves to inspire.
Rant - Vito Cruz Road Work Traffic
September 5, 2008I have been driving one or another of my kids to and/or from school in La Salle for the last 5 or 6 years and this is something that I will be doing for 4 or 5 years more. This almost daily routine has allowed me to talk and bond with them despite my busy workload and the other demands on my time. When schedules require it, I don’t mind waking up at 5:30 AM to get them to an 8 AM class or staying later than I have to in the office to pick them up from a late class.
At earlier hours, the drive used to take 45 minutes to an hour all the way to my office in Makati from our home in Las Pinas. As bad as that was, it became worse when portions of Vito Cruz were dug up for civil works including the stretch from the corner of Vito Cruz and Taft Avenue all the way past the new St. Benilde building. Now, the drive takes an average of an hour and a half with 15 to 30 minutes negotiating 2 miserable blocks along Leon Guinto.
I would normally drive down this stretch of Vito Cruz dropping the kids in the corner of Taft Avenue on my way to Makati. Otherwise, I would have to turn right past Estrada and turn right again on Leon Guinto to get back on Vito Cruz. This was already undesirable then as the road to get onto Leon Guinto was narrow and double parked and Leon Guinto itself badly paved.
Even with Vito Cruz at the corner of Taft Avenue open, there were always jeepneys parked near the corner waiting for passengers made worse by ambulant vendors on the sidewalk. Usual with jeepney drivers, they mostly did not care if they were blocking traffic waiting for passengers or would stop dead in the middle of the road to pick one up and you can honk your horn or scream yourself hoarse and they would not care. It is important to note that there is a police outpost on the very next left hand corner with Leon Guinto but seldom a cop in sight to direct traffic or shoo away the jeepneys.
Now, with the traffic detoured to Leon Guinto, the jeepneys drivers have taken the liberty of converting the corner of Leon Guinto and Vito Cruz into a passenger stop and parking lot, right beside the police outpost no less. Past this corner, despite being single laned due to the actual road work going on infront of St. Benilde, the traffic starts to flow smoothly.
This road work started around April or May of this year. Although it was the start of the first 2008 trimester of La Salle, it was not so bad since the other schools were out. I assumed that they would rush the work and get done before the start of the normal school year and the rainy season. It is now the start of the second trimester and the rainy season seems about to have ended already and they are nowhere near done.
I mean, for Pete’s sake, doesn’t anyone else see this? Are the powers-that-be afraid of these jeepney drivers that they can’t discipline them? Or maybe they are afraid of losing something else? I am no urban planner or traffic management expert but it doesn’t take a genius to see that a more thought out rerouting would help alleviate the situation if they can’t get rid of those damn jeepneys. They are mostly empty anyway. Why don’t they park further down Leon Guinto and get dispatched when the one waiting in the corner gets filled?
Calling the attention of Mayor Lim of the city of Manila or Chairman Fernando of the MMDA as well as Secretary Ebdane of the DPWH, please, gentlemen, look into this.
