MOST OPPRESSED IN METROMANILA

WHO ARE THE MOST OPPRESSED PEOPLE OF METROMANILA? THE PEDESTRIANS AND THE COMMUTERS, OF COURSE.

YET MAJORITY OF THEM ARE WORKING PEOPLE CONTRIBUTING TO THE ECONOMIC ADVANCEMENT OF THE COUNTRY.



1. Pedestrians have to contend with sidewalks which have different heights -- most of the time causing them to trip over. Actually, anywhere we go around MetroManila and other cities, a standard height of sidewalks should be made, not according to the whim of the construction company.

I have suffered a lot from such sidewalks, especially along Ortigas which is not well-lit at night. I was crossing the street when I didn't know there was a center-island sidewalk at all. The color was the same as the street whereas it should have had a yellow lining around it and should be luminous at night. 

2. Commuters have to withstand having to ride jeepneys with the same problem -- different  heights of step to get inside. I must hold both bars on the left and right in order to get on instead of just stepping in with a grasp of one bar. 

3. Inside tricycles are all steel wallings and ceiling. When the drivers are crazy and think they own the road, the passengers could bump their heads on the steel wallings. No protection at all for them, not even insurance. And who would sue the driver here in the Philippines? No one would listen, not even if you complain to high heavens. 

4. Local officials think it is cute to have overpasses all over MetroManila whereas they are the ugliest blot in the skyline - steel bars that look like they have just come out of the factory and the construction company built the overpass with it in order to recoup the commissions that he had had to shell out to win the public bidding. 

Folks, no design at all; just simple welding here and there. 

5. Worse yet, Folks, majority of the overpasses do not have escalators nor elevators. Some have but are not functioning, never function, or perhaps had functioned but are no longer maintained. 

So pity the senior citizens, the pregnant women and children, the people with disabilities as they have to negotiate these oppressive overpasses.

By the way, except for the Ayala stations, LRT 1, MRT 2 and 3  do not have escalators and elevators. 

The proposed budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways is P458.61 billion while last year it was P397.11, an increase of P61.5 Billions or 15.49%.  

How much of the new budget will go to alleviate the problems of commuters and pedestrians, most of whom are trying to eke out a living?

There is a commuters association but it is not so much involved in the paths of their constituents than the smooth and efficient transport systems. 


Photo above: Street Art Utopia

https://pradaforbreakfast.wordpress.com/2011/08/05/beyond-the-mural-unconventional-street-art/