Upong diyes lang
OURS is a country of many contradictions. We want to solve our challenging traffic by removing our jeepneys from our roads…at a time when our MRT3 is sometimes in suspended animation.
ONLY IN THE PH? ALL DRESSED UP, AND NOWHERE TO GO. The Manila commuter has the patience of Job…If it takes you 30 minutes on the zig-zagging line to catch a ride at MRT. But what happens when it stops? And you have to walk on foot to the next station?
The government’s modernization program aims for a major makeover of the ubiquitous jeepney by improving its engine, safety and convenience. Aging jeepneys must be retro-fitted with cleaner engines, wi-fi, security cametas, etc., that the poor Filipino driver and owners say they cannot afford.
Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (PISTON) say that the government program would displace more than 600,000 drivers and 250,000 owners and jack up fares. The new jeepneys would cost between 11.2 million and 1.6 million but the drivers have not been offered a concrete financial assistance scheme by the government.
*** Elsewhere, in the battle against the car, space-starved Singapore has deployed road tolls, massive spending on public transport, and a license fee that bumps the cost of an average vehicle to over $80,000. Singapore has gone further than any other major city to avoid the monster jams that have blighted Asian metropolises such as Jakarta or Manila.
Singapore requires a certificate of entitlement which car buyer must bid for. A COE adds about Sg$50,000 to an average vehicle price, pushing a Toyota Corolla to Sg$114,000 (US$83,000). The COE is valid for 10 years, after which the car must be scrapped or the certificate renewed (or exported to Manila which converts to left-hand drive.)
To mitigate its tough policies, Singapore has a modern public transport network with a subway, overland trains and buses, and the government recently announced a plan to spend Sg$28 billion to upgrade the system. Yet some still gripe, “The government has been trying to make the city ‘car-lite’ but you have a train system that’s not very reliable.” Whiners should come over and see our MRT train to count their blessings.
*** Meanwhile cocktail tattle turned on Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno failing the mental check. Someone mentioned that this additional obstacle course was instituted during the term of then chief Justice Hilario Davide, to sift Supreme Court Justices from mere mortals. Anyway one can take the test again.
Ambassador Libran Cabactulan interjected that the DFA also instituted its version of mental capacity test as a condition for promotion. A few candidates also flunked. But they could take it again, even in a foreign language of their choice…
Ambassador Rey Catapang recalled that a candidate had failed to make the Supreme Court twice. The pundit Joe Guevara lamented that Artemio Panganiban on his second failed attempt did not pass muster at a time when the Supreme Court badly needed a travel agent! .But we all remember that he not only made it the third time, but served a distinguished term as chief justice.
*** Wild horses can’t keep up with the horsepower which revved up for the 2017 Fuel Economy Run last November 20-21 at Clark, Pampanga. The Fuel Economy Run is the 13th year of excellent public service collaboration between Department of Energy and Petron for motorists to gauge the fuel consumption rating of various brand vehicles on actual highway driving conditions. Each vehicle had a driver, a navigator, and an auditor to vet the performance and settings. Flag-off at the Petron Service Station Clark for the 216.6-kilometer route via SCTEX and TPLEX Binalonan, and U-turn back to the Petron Service Station Clark. Participating vehicle’s fuel economy rating recorded in kilometers per liter.
*** Gary Lising proposes to better the instruction with actual road conditions running from SLEX through Quezon Boulevard to EDSA and ending at Katpunan. The test runs on real time Metro Manila traffic conditions. Drivers will be rated on actual fuel consumption, nontraffic violations, and time of arrival. Matira ang matibay! FEEDBACK: