Painful necessary lesson

The mini crisis being experienced by motorists and commuters due to the Skyway expansion project at the Alabang Viaduct is a very painful but necessary lesson for both national and local governments to be mindful of investing on and having alternative access and exit roads. Almost and all towns and cities next to the NLEX and SLEX have become over dependent on these expressways and forgotten the need to buy lands solely for the purpose of having alternative roads. The focus on urbanization is so extreme that almost all lands are being classified as residential or commercial but nothing for new roads. Provincial and local governments have left this concern to the national government or private investors but the problem has now comeback to bite them.

Anyone who drives to Tagaytay city is familiar with the ETON City route that has become a nightmare due to traffic congestion. Ironically there is so much land around the area and all of it will soon be built up or sold for industrial or commercial purposes because from what I understand, the entire spread belongs to private developers. So what happens when the owners finally decide to restrict, limit or realign the routes to suit their development plans? There is no question that we need more alternative routes going into Sta. Rosa as well as Tagaytay City coming from SLEX and other points. Further south Los Baños and Calamba have lost its attraction as a weekend get-away or tourist destination simply because the traffic congestion is so bad. Residents of Lipa City have talked about the city investing in more roads to connect the many barangays but the only thing that has popped up are inter city connectors that funnel more cars and create more traffic inside Lipa because of the volume and not enough exit points to the SLEX or Laurel highway.

It took the recent Alabang viaduct carmagedon to make Muntinlupa City officials to realize that they are “trapped” and seriously need alternative roads beyond SLEX. Their plan to declare the service roads parallel to SLEX as one-way roads is actually a good idea that has long been suggested but opposed by residents who directly benefit from the current two-way system. Aside from making the service roads one-way, local and traffic officials would do well to completely ban any loading and unloading of passengers by Jeepneys. They should be required to turn in or pull over into side streets or gas stations or find some way of not stopping and loading on the service road.    

Over the weekend, we tried to figure out if there are any “convenient” alternative routes that we can use to avoid the Alabang - Sta.Rosa carmagedon?  At best the available routes require going into equally traffic congested areas or doing a very big loop via Cavite or Antipolo / Laguna. God forbid the big earthquake hits the SLEX or NLEX; do we have a back up roadway going south?  I hope that both government and elected officials will finally come to terms with the urgent need to “Build Build Build” more access into and around cities and municipalities.

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While many of us are reeling from construction caused carmagedon, chances are things will only get worse before they get better. Aside from the canals being dug up by local government contractors, I heard that Maynilad Water and Manila Water company are “Forced to Good” or undertake major construction work in order to comply with the order of the Supreme Court to link their customers to sewage lines and plants. Either that or they pay something like P322,102 as daily fines for non-compliance. The SC recently slapped both concessionaires a P912-million fine covering May 2009 up to August 2019. Unless the concessionaires can pull a rabbit out of their hats, they will carry on having to pay hundreds of millions a day.

As a result of the SC decision, the concessionaires are now forced to borrow against future earnings in order to avoid the fines and fast track the installation of sewage lines. That all sound good and right until you realize that someone has to pay for the very expensive rush jobs that will be financed with not so pleasant terms since the concessionaires have their backs against the wall. Yes, we the customers will pay the price in terms of expensive water rates. But even before we can get to enjoy pricey tap water, we will all have to endure an even bigger carmagedon as both companies have started to dig all over Metro Manila in order to install those sewer lines and build treatment plants. Time to canvass prices for scooters folks!

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The public outcry over the hazing and murder of PMA Cadet Dormitorio continues. But something our legislators and the public seem to have missed out on is the need for a performance audit of the Philippine Military Academy.

Such an assessment is warranted to determine not only what ails or plagues the academy, but what can be introduced to further improve it as a center of excellence and to set out a course for an academy that is adjusted to a digitalized world, an environment where culture and values as well as technology have radically changed. The audit or appraisal would also determine if those running or teaching at the academy are more than qualified and fit to be mentors of our future leaders. Have they been tested, certified and qualified as teachers and mentors or are they also appointed by the Gods in the AFP?  While the AFP and PNP have opened its doors to “civilian” partners and experts, what about the PMA? The brutality of hazing is so extreme that it distracts us from an even bigger problem; the Academy that incubates it, breeds it, and kills its own.

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