There should be a referendum
How is it possible that a handful of people can unilaterally make a major policy decision that will impact the lives of millions of Filipinos without any public consultation whatsoever?
In the next few days or a week, President Noynoy Aquino is expected to sign an Executive Order that will define the Philippine government’s policy on mining. Based on statements from Malacanang, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and media reports, the EO is the brainchild of Executive Secretary Jojo Ochoa, DENR Secretary Ramon Paje, officials from the Bureau of Mines with inputs from the mining industry.
To say the least, the EO on mining will spell disaster for at least 40 local government units that have passed laws against mining in their respective areas. In the larger picture the EO will be factual evidence that the greater majority of Filipinos are not the true “Boss” of P-Noy. If it were the case, P-Noy would have called for “town hall meetings” or a referendum on the proposed EO on mining. The sad part is that Malacanang and Secretary Paje have not been transparent about the forthcoming EO, choosing to release only bits and pieces.
How can “we, the people” intelligently support or oppose an Executive Order if the people who make them don’t make any effort to share the information or decisions contained in them? Whatever Secretary Paje shared about the EO has been limited to the bad news that the national government through the EO intended to assert dominance over local governments concerning mining policies and laws. Safe to say, that Malacanang plans to use the EO as the club to bully its critics with.
Perhaps the Freedom of information bill will remedy some of the problems, but it might be a good idea for members of Congress to consider a law that will require Malacanang to publish and post any and all proposed Executive Orders 30 days before the President or the Executive Secretary signs them. This would be a cheaper option for public consultation than a referendum and will give the public enough time to respond.
Can someone in government please explain logically and scientifically why Metro Manila is in near constant gridlock?
In every meeting or event I attend, the standard complaint and comment of vehicle owners is the unusually constant heavy traffic in major roads of Metro Manila. If you listen to everyone’s account, it seems like we are all left to our own devices to figure out why traffic is so bad. Because we feel it’s hopeless to rely on government, we are now “justifying” or coming up with excuses for heavy traffic. Either it’s because of a sudden downpour, it’s no longer truck ban, there’s a fun run, there is a religious event or anniversary, or it’s either too early or past working hours for MMDA enforcers. Somehow we seem to have reached the point where gridlock is acceptable as long as we can create an excuse for it!
The MMDA has been great at telling commuters online what the traffic conditions are and where to expect problems, but no one has given an overall picture or explanation as to why we have heavy traffic up to 10 or 11 in the evening. Worst of all, what is the P-Noy administration doing about it? Is this government even concerned with the situation?
For all their sins, I know for a fact how the Arroyo administration even PGMA herself was “O-C” about traffic conditions. Back then there were instances when former MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando would get phone calls from PGMA because of heavy traffic conditions. Arroyo’s “O-C” attitude about traffic actually made a lot of sense because being stuck in traffic was one of the top complaints of people. By reducing the time people got stuck in traffic, PGMA and Fernando effectively reduced complaints and dissatisfaction. It is highly possible that being stuck in traffic gives thousands of commuters too much time to reflect and fume which ultimately affects the President’s popularity. During my regular drives through EDSA, I noticed that the steel structures used for billboards now have signs saying: “Private property — No Trespassing.” I can only guess that these were placed as a deterrent for MMDA and DPWH personnel who plan to take down billboards in line with the MMDA -DPWH campaign.
Perhaps, the MMDA, DPWH and PNP should sit down and study the fact that the Billboard structures have become a public safety issue due to the many incidents of “Climbers” and “jumpers” who go up these structures. This year alone, so many climbers have gone up these structures, caused alarm, and used up so much government manpower and equipment not to mention the traffic jams they created.
It is interesting to note that owners of the structures can put up the signs but can’t put up the fences and safety designs to prevent public access to the structures. Perhaps it is time for government to file charges against owners of structures involved in the deaths of jumpers as well as incidents of public scandal.
Similarly, I noticed how the pillars of the elevated Skyway has become road level billboards and are full of “EYE CATCHING” advertisements. If you’re in gridlock, that may be entertaining, but at 60 to 100 kph I pray to God that the driver in front of me has his eyes on the road and not the billboards!
Incidentally, we received a complaint from a commuter about newspaper vendors selling newspapers at EDSA and not just the sidewalk, in the North EDSA terminal area. What annoyed the commuter was the fact that MMDA enforcers were busy reading the papers for free instead of telling the vendor to get off the road.
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