Something to consider

San Juan Congressman JV Ejercito is on the warpath and he is meaning to go after the scalps of budget airlines that have turned from a promise of progress into a curse among customers. Judging from the growing numbers of airline passengers who have an axe to grind, one airline in particular will end up looking so bad, even its employees will start taking cover or denying their association with the airline.

When a company or a person does well in business or in life, people naturally gravitate towards the icon of success especially in a country where it is a cultural habit to brag or take advantage of family names and affinity.

But what happens when a particular name begins to stink or is associated with genocide, corruption or shameful business practices. How does having the same name or reference affect others? In politics, allies bail out and join the latest and greatest. In business, they sell out or kick you out, in families they try their best to deny your existence or defend you by saying you have some mental illness!

But how do you deal with a situation when a company adopts the name of a province? It seemed like a pretty good idea to let an airline use the name “Cebu” when they established the airline. Who would have argued against having your own “flag carrier” or in this case “name” carrier. But now, several years later, the same airline is going through a period of harsh criticism and a pending congressional investigation that is bound to turn ugly and derogatory against the airline.

This situation is a valuable lesson to political and business leaders to be very cautious and deliberate before lending out iconic titles or letting people or businesses use them because in the end such an association could ruin or create the wrong impression.

My friend Col. Anicetas Katigbak (ret.), who has been promoting the revival of the famous Batangas “barako” coffee in Lipa, Batangas pointed out to me that many entrepreneurs are now growing and selling what they claim to be “barako” coffee. When he checked into some of the claims he discovered that some blatantly lied by using the term “Batangas Barako” even if they were in a different province and a region a hundred kilometers south! Another thing Katigbak discovered was that some use “barako” but were actually growing a different variety or coffee.

This reminds of products such as “Patis” (fish brine), Bagoong (shrimp paste) and Bangus (milk fish), which we found being marketed in Europe as “product of the Philippines” many years ago. After some inquiry, we learned that they were actually from Thailand but being sold in Filipino communities abroad.

At some point we simply have to stop giving, lending or allowing people from easily using important, historical and iconic names because unlike a franchise, we have no direct control over matters and consequence. Along these lines, what we need is a law to regulate such use of iconic names and titles instead of just making laws naming and renaming streets.

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Speaking of streets, local executives of Cebu and the Visayas should also be cautious about following what some Metro Manila executives do because often times, the solutions adopted in Metro Manila may not be ideal for Cebu or other urban settings.

As I’ve pointed out in an earlier column, Metro Manila is now suffering and experiencing the phenomenon they call “Urban Heat Island” where certain areas become 24-hour hot zones. This happens when large areas are covered with concrete roads, concrete walkways, concrete buildings, as well as paved parking.

All day, the concrete absorbs heat from direct sunlight and at night releases the stored heat resulting in a 24-hour constant temperature with very little cooling or relief.  The MMDA also implemented a policy of removing many trees along highways and roadways, which further reduced the natural defense against CO2 emissions.

Instead of working with nature, MMDA officials disregarded nature and opted for engineering solutions. How then do we engineer the heat that takes the form of several “islands”?

Another erroneous solution in Metro Manila streets is building pedestrian walkways and barricades or wire walls to control undisciplined pedestrians. Up to the 1970s, I remember people still crossed pedestrian lanes and jaywalking was a crime. Now it has become a behavioral matter that is addressed with engineering solutions. All this cost too much money but does not deal with the problems correctly.