15 minutes on hold

Most people don’t like being put on hold or being told to wait on the line. Last Friday I was put on hold along with some 200 passengers several thousand feet up in the air. While my friends carried on playing 4 Pics and other video games, I was being attentive to the pilot’s announcement that an airplane had just declared an “Emergency landing” requiring that the air space and runways at NAIA be cleared. Part of the procedure required our plane to hover over Parañaque, Muntinlupa, Makati maybe and Manila. This entire process added another 15 minutes to the flight not to mention several thousands of pesos in fuel for the airline.

As we went around wide and what seem like 3 or 4 times, I could not help but wonder what would happen if any of the other aircrafts in the holding pattern developed an emergency. I’m generally an optimist but the current state of our airport and lack of runways gave me no confidence whatsoever and I cannot help but criticize the PNoy Mis-administration particularly the DOTC after learning that we can’t expect anything new from the government because with one year and a few months left, they are relying and waiting for JICA to give them a study and recommendation on how to solve the need for additional runways or a totally new airport and where it should be located.

This for me is not just hitting rock bottom but digging deeper to prove their incompetence. This Mis-administration used the name of JICA in vain when they claimed that JICA recommended the relocation of the airport from Tacloban City to the town of Palo, Leyte. Now they are once again using JICA’s name and expertise to shield their incompetence and inability to remedy if not produce real solutions to serious aviation and business concerns at the airport. There are enough private companies that have the funds and the capability to undertake the construction of a third runway or a completely new airport. But judging from what the DOTC and Secretary Abaya has been saying through the year, it seems that they are simply playing out their time in office just like a basketball game, rather than act boldly to address a serious infrastructure requirement. In the end the legacy of the DOTC under Abaya and PNoy is that they accomplished nothing except to renovate an old and tiny terminal in the record time of more than two years. This is what I refer to as Misadministration.

I guess some people won’t touch a monument to the dead for the sake of the living as well as for development.

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Another airport related topic that has become irritating is the fact that taxis have started to charge an additional P100 for passengers going to the airport. On my last trip, I was surprised that BASIC taxi hiked their pick-up fare to the airport from 500 to 600 pesos. When I started asking around it seems that fares have begun to go up and everyone is blaming construction and traffic at the airport as the reason for the price increase. From the looks of it, operators and drivers are simply making their own rules and justifying them with the “Traffic.”

One would think that the DOTC, MMDA and the Airport police would at least be very visible in managing the traffic since passengers and businesses are operating on the basis of time and flight schedules and being caught in traffic should be avoided at all cost. Unfortunately the agencies concerned are into everything except making sure that people don’t get delayed for their flights or to pick-up passengers. So now we pay more and still get stuck in traffic!

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If you’re one of those patriotic and tourism loving Filipinos who’ve invited foreigners to come over for the longest Christmas in the world, make sure you watch and protect your foreign visitors! Aside from the bag snatching gang still on the prowl that the Makati and Taguig Police have failed to arrest for over two years, we now hear and read regularly about foreigners being targeted by pickpockets and snatchers. One of the places gaining notoriety as a den of pickpockets is The Fort in Taguig/Makati where I’ve been told of 3 incidents of pickpockets victimizing foreign women while crossing the pedestrian lane near Market – Market and Serendra.

The Fort recently gained notoriety on Facebook concerning the alleged mauling or scuffle between a couple of foreign guys and The Fort Security personnel. The same security group has also increased the negative image of the Fort because of their unclear and abrasive implementation of traffic rules as well as towing of vehicles. Given how congested, polluted and traffic snarled the Fort is, one wonders how much longer their “Sosyal” image will last. Unless someone seriously looks into security lapses and the badly regulated development, the Fort may soon look like the port.

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Where are the officials of the KBP when it comes to policing their own ranks?

While the KBP went into over drive trying to pull off the Binay Vs Trillanes debate, no one from the KBP has done anything about FM radio anchors and DJs who have been conducting themselves in scandalous and almost pornographic manner in the guise of advice talk shows and comedy. More and more people have mentioned this observation and the fact that no one from the KBP seems to have noticed or are interested in disciplining out of control DJs.

After doing a sampling of what goes on, I can attest to the fact that on three occasions I spotted and heard evening DJs conducting VERY suggestive or sexual banter for several minutes some disguised as “letters” or advice for listeners. It is ironic that many KBP members devote so much airtime to investigate errant government officials and law enforcers but has never dealt publicly with violators of the KBP code of conduct. It’s time for the KBP to keep their promise to “Police their own ranks.” If not, someone else should do it for them.

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