Sustainable city

Sometimes it pays to listen to foreigners among us. They are as a group reluctant to voice valid criticisms of our way of life lest vengeful officials deport them. So I am sharing here excerpts of a foreigner’s reaction to my column on Jeepney modernization.

“What is a sustainable city? It’s one that is clean, green with efficient, comfortable and safe mass transportation. With sidewalks wide enough to include a bicycle lane, with space left over for people to stroll, walk and jog. With parks or green recreational areas where people can find peace of mind.”

No, we don’t have those cities in the Philippines, not in Cebu, not in Manila, not anywhere. And here’s my reader’s reason why.

“The problem with the public officials and politicians in this country is their lack of vision. They are very good in talking, they talk and talk and talk everything to death… If you want to make a politician really happy, then just give him (a) mike and he will talk over an hour by saying nothing…”

“…All one can see is imperfect work. The work for an efficient mass transportation should have started already 20 years ago. Why your public officials can not see beyond the end of their nose? And why do people always accept this? You pay a quite high tax, you have a right to get a much better service in return.”

About corruption, he claims, and rightly I think, that it is bringing the country down. How? “Corruption is so deeply rooted here that it became already a way of life. If people sell their vote for P300, they not only betray their own country they also lose their dignity! Once people lose their dignity he or she is nothing anymore. Look at the Japanese, if one has lost his dignity or face... they see only one solution... suicide over living in shame. Perhaps the country needs a new code of conduct starting already at home and in school.” (My translation: We need to stop living by the code of pabaga-ay sa nawong or pakapalan sa mukha ).

He finishes with “Back to transportation, the Philippines have never been good at planned development. Just look at property development in Cebu City. The privileged and the mighty real estate elite is engaged in maximising profit, maximising land use and everything ends up like a concrete jungle. (Comment: That is why we get flooded so fast.) Profit over the well-being of people. So where is the green lung of Cebu City and who will fight for it?”

These are questions we should all be asking and sincere politicians answering. If nothing is happening, it would be fair to say not enough of us care to ask them and sincere public officials are a rare (hopefully not extinct) species in the country.

Will federalism help? My attempts to answer in future columns.