Whenever oil companies announce a price increase on petroleum products, they have long been able to do so “unchallenged and unexplained”. The presumption is that the oil companies are corporately responsible, highly competitive and covered by laws in order to do so. But this week’s “big time price hike” got enough hype in media that it caused concern among many motorists and eventually raised the question: Why are oil companies exempted from explaining the reason for such big price hikes? This is especially so since international media and authorities have made efforts to reassure the global community that the terror attack on Saudi Arabian oil fields had very minimal effect on the global supply and price of oil.
Call it a common courtesy that people, especially consumers, expect since the same explanation and justification is demanded by government authorities from jeepney operators, Grab and bus companies as well as airlines and the likes. Government even demand an explanation whenever food prices such as fish and vegetables go up. So, why not require an explanation from the oil companies? To be blunt about it, we the consumers may not be able to do much about it, but at least treat consumers with respect by way of an explanation and not a shove down our throats and deep into our pockets!
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Right after getting the green light to build the San Miguel Bulacan Airport, maverick businessman Ramon Ang once again got heads turning and tongues wagging when he declared a plan and a verbal proposal to build ten lanes on top of EDSA using steel in order to complete the project in a much shorter time. The thing is RSA’s recent proposal along with the SMC Pandacan Integrated Bus Depot and food “market” is not new. Ang has mentioned those things in the form of “ideas” that were actually tossed up in the air to see if there would be a violent reaction or criticism. Having heard none, he apparently sent out his teams of accomplished researchers, engineers, finance and actuarial experts to do what really is “just another day at San Miguel”.
So why would San Miguel and Ramon Ang want to do the tollway on top of EDSA and the Pandacan terminal/depot? Aside from being an engineer, why not, especially when you now have the green light to construct the center of it all: the Bulakan airport. Given the estimates and proposed timelines, the EDSA elevated tollway would be built just in time to enhance or support the access and egress from the airport that will surely be the go to point for air travel in the Philippines. The Pandacan Integrated depot on the other hand is a strategic enhancement for the SLEX-NLEX connector road as well as a vital support for the DOTR-MMDA policy of having fewer but bigger bus terminals away from EDSA.
A high ranking government official asked why Ang carelessly telegraphed his building plans to possible competitors who could steal them? Simple, in the Philippines our insistence on a Swiss Challenge takes away any and all advantage of being the first to have an idea. Besides which very few companies in the Philippines are bold enough and patriotic enough to build projects big enough and affordable enough to benefit the public. SMC under Ramon Ang is not only diversified, it is “multiplied” to the extent that the sheer number of profitable companies give them all the cash flow they need in order to afford longer term ROI and smaller profit margins. It is the Filipino-Chinese business model: “Liit tubo – dami kita.”
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Yesterday we focused on “Vaping” or the use of electronic cigarettes on our program AGENDA on Cignal/OneNews/TV5. I learned quite a lot on the subject first and foremost being e-cigarettes are considered “faulty products”, that there have been two confirmed cases of e-cigarettes exploding in the mouth of users, one of whom landed at the East Avenue Medical Center with a lacerated mouth, dental injuries etc. Another high profile case suspected to be linked to vaping involves Assistant Secretary Tony Lambino of the Department of Finance who developed a form of deep muscle palsy that is suspected to have been triggered by “vaping”. Lambino currently walks with a “pirates” eye patch to help restore his vision.
Our main guest Dr. Maricar Limpin pointed out that people are misled into thinking that vaping is safer and a tool to help people quit cigarette smoking. The two incidents of e-cigarettes exploding settle the safety issue. Vapers can’t expect to quit because the e-cigarette is designed in such a way that the user decides how much nicotine he consumes in every vaping session unlike actual cigarettes that have a “fixed” naturally occurring amount of nicotine. E-cigarettes are presumably even more lethal as far as second hand smoking is concerned. The scariest discovery in the show was what Asec. Lambino and Dr. Limpin called Popcorn Lungs condition that develop in the course of using e-cigarettes. Chemicals found in e-cigarettes are apparently so toxic that some users have been found to have “rotted” mucous membranes and linings of the air passages of their lungs. The condition is similar to COPD or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, except that in many cases COPD takes around 15 to 20 years to set in. With Popcorn Lungs, it takes half the time, and why Popcorn Lungs? The name is taken from the smell of the e-cigarette liquid that is similar to popcorn which is another thing that US health practitioners are shooting down. The e-cigarette flavors, scents and packaging are clearly targeted for young people and for us Filipinos who happen to have a pre-disposition for sweets! Sweet poison!
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