OCEAN STORIES

Deep in my heart Folks, I am an environmentalist. I grew up near the sea and every morning my sister Vangie, brothers Eduardo and Antonio would ride a banca through a small lake that ends at the high seas where ships coming from Manila and Iloilo would sail through. That lake was at the back of our house in Mandalagan, Negros Occidental, and is now the site of Bombo Radyo Station, 102.7 Star FM on the radio dial. Afterwards when it was low tide, we would wade through the waters and walk on the sandy shores to pick up beautiful shells and crablets.

It was a very memorable childhood for us, way back in the late fifties and early sixties. Eventually. Mother and Stepfather Sinfronio Puerto   brought us, including my oldest sister, Adelina and youngest half sister, Ebet all back to Manila to study there.

So I love stories abiut the ocean, and even got to watch the film, Titanic 9 times. Was it because of the ocean, the story or of the crushable di Caprio? Whatever, I really enjoyed that film. I also watched the animation film, The Little Mermaid this time because of the songs too. And did you know folks that in Eastern Europe, there is an animated version of the fairytale but it is truer to the original short story by Hans Christian Andersen. It ends on a very sad note as the mermaid could not accept killing the prince (who has gotten married to a princess) so that she could come back as a mermaid in the deep ocean; remember she exchanged her voice for a pair of two feet with the Sea Witch so that she could be with the prince forever? So what happens in the film? She turns into ocean foam, no longer a mermaid nor a human with two feet. 

But I don't like the film Jaws at all. It's too horrifying for me. 

Now here is a story from our own Fisherfolks. 

In the seas down Southern Luzon, a group of fisherfolks went to the high seas to catch some, led by R M. (have not asked his permission yet to write this; somwhen I get this I will write his full name.)

Folks did you know they were able to catch these big fishes, 800 banyeras, even larger than the bangus but they looked so ugly and our folks didn't know what to call them? It was their first encounter with these fishes. So Daniel, an architectural student named the fishes after the head of the fishing team, RM.

The community people didn't want to buy anymfish without a name somthe fisherfolks sold them atbP20 per kilo. 

When they cooked the fishes, they tasted so deliciously that the people are now asking if the still could buy some.

I thnk Folks, the fishes were inhabiting truly deep parts of the ocean so they were able to grow so big. But because of the warming climate and the ocean also had followed suit, they began to wander nearer the surface. Hence they were easily caught by iur Kababayan.

That is something for the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to delve into and explain this phenomenon.

Little Mermaid Statue, Copenhagen, Denmark Photographic Print by Michael Runke

RATIONALITY, EQUALITY AND TIMING OF ELECTIONS

As I plod through the days trying to make my name be known in 142 barangays of Quezon City, I encounter lessons which need answers, solutions, and problems which need being addressed right away but might take a generation to do. 

First of all, the rationality of public political advertising is problematic for me. How can a poster containing the name and the picture of the candidate become a good measure of what he or she will do once in office? But that is what is being shown now in 95% of the posters and tarps that I have seen. The guts of the candidates is admirable. They can smile through and think probably that the people will just buy what they have printed there, hook, line and sinker. 

I think that is a very low thought which needs to be corrected. The proliferation of posters does not mean that we have a vibrant political exercise. It just means that the need to protect the environment is not seriously being considered at all. Those materials after elections will just become covers for the seats of tricycles and jeepneys, thus lowering the dignity of our public drivers. Why should they be satisfied with having such as the seats for their vehicles? Don't they deserve a first hand material with design that they themselves or the operators have made?

Moreover, our youth are being introduced to a political exercise that is wasteful and irrational. It is wasteful because millions of pesos are being spent for the picture of one candidate only because their propagandists think that name recall will fall from that method. But they are wrong. 

The people could turn aghast at such proliferation especially when they are reeling from the high costs of living and the expenses for the materials are just plain wasteful. 

Where is the rationality in that?

Secondly, Equality. Time and again I have mentioned Comelec so that at least they would be creative and imaginative enough to solve the problem of inequality of resources of candidates --those poor candidates whose only offering is a sincere and honest heart to serve are always at a disadvantage vis-a -vis those candidates who are still holding on to their power and who have access to public funds. 

What is the solution here? Make those incumbents resign from their posts and the budgets released to them be audited for their adherence to legal practices of expending them. Is that not a normal thing to be done by any government employee?

Those incumbents should not even be allowed to use vehicles of their offices anymore. They should be treated as equals of all the candidates for the same posts that they want to get elected to. Hence, their acts of brazenly using funds and resources of the posts they are attached to become a "normal" course of event which should be corrected pronto already. 

Did you know that one candidate used her father to intervene and stop the help being given by a patron to a candidate simply because that latter is her opponent? or was she imagining an opponent who is actually so poor that she cannot even hire a cab to go from one barangay to another but take only the public transport in order to distribute flyers and tarpaulins?

Comelec definitely plays a big part in making our political exercise sane or rational and an equal exercise of the right to vote and be voted upon at least. 

Lastly, due to climate change, summer is extremely hot already in our country, reaching as high as 38 degrees, which is one degree higher than the normal body temperature. For everyone to be able to campaign despite that heat is to extract a superhuman effort to overcome the environmental degradation. 

Hence, I suggest that we move the election period next time to October or November since the temperature would be much cooler by then. I think more older people would have the appetite to run and serve sincerely if the climate that we would be working in is much cooler. I have to leave the house late afternoons, actually in order to avoid the possibility of suffering from heatstroke outside.  

Rationality, equality and timing are very important factors in determining if we really have a healthy political exercise. Otherwise we seem to be just putting up a charade, a facade all to give the incumbents running for office a chance to look legal in all their actions and making them win without these factors being brought out into the open. We are just being used as tools to make our political exercise look very "legitimate."

Hello world, look at us; here we are, we are making history. 

AYOKO, AYOKO NG YOSI!

Magkakaroon tayo ng mga pag-aaral sa bawa’t distrito kung bakit masama ang yosi sa kalusugan. Napansin ko kasi na marami ang mga umuubo kapag ako ay dumadalaw sa mga komunidad. Kung kaya’t narito ang aking paunang sinulat tungkol dito na batay sa inilabas na dokumento ng World Health Organization (WHO). Ipapalaganap ko ito sa lahat ng mga naninirahan sa Quezon City upang magkaroon tayo ng mga malulusog na mamamayan.

MGA SAKIT DULOT NG YOSI:

PSORIASIS isang sakit ng balat na makati at nagtutubig na mapupulang pekas at lumalabas, kumakalat sa buong katawan. Ang nagyoyosi ay maaaring magka psoriasis.

KATARATA -isang uri nag panlalabo ng mata. Ang nagyoyosi ay maaaring magkasakit sa mata, mabulag o lumala ang mga sakit na ito sa pagdaraan ng panahon. 

                                                           NORMAL NA MATA / MAY KATARATA

1. Iniirita ng usok ng sigarilyo ang mga mata;

2. Pumapasok ang kemikal sa baga at umaakyat sa mga ugat na sumisira sa sirkulasyon ng dugo patungo sa mata;

3. Maaaring magdulot ang panInigarilyo dala ng pagtanda ng macula (macular degeneration) o pagkasira ng pinakagitna ng loob ng mata na tinatawag na macula.

       Ano ang macula? Ito ay bahagi ng mata na mahalaga para tayo'y makapagbasa, makakita habang nagmamaneho ng sasakyan, makakilala ng mga mukha't kulay, at makakita ng maliliit na bagay.

KULUBOT NA BALAT

Dahil sa yosi, ang balat ay maagang nangungulubot kasi nawawala ang protina sa katawan na nagbabanat ng balat. Pinabababa nito ang dami ng bitamina A sa katawan at pinipigilan ang pagdaloy ng dugo patungo sa balat. Dahil dito ang balat ng naninigarilyo ay tuyo at kulubot na napapatanda ng hitsura niya.

PAGKABINGI

Ang nagyoyosi ay maaaring mabingi ng mas maaga kaysa sa mga di

 

humihitit ng sigarilyo. Maaari rin silang magkaroon ng impeksyon sa tenga na magiging dahilan ng pagkabingi o pagkawala o panghihina ng pandinig.

KANSER

Ang kanser ay maaaring tumubo dahil sa 40 kemikal na nakukuha sa usok ng sigarilyo. Ang mga nagyoyosi ay mayroong mas malaking posibilidad na magkaroon ng kanser sa baga. Ayon sa pananaliksik kung mas matagal nang nagyoyosi, mas mataas ang posibilidad ng pagtubo ng mga bukol o kanser sa iba't ibang parte ng katawan.

IBA'T IBANG URI NG KANSER DAHIL SA PAGYOYOSI

1. Kanser sa baga - ang baga ng namatay na nagyoyosi dahil sa sakit na kanser ay maitim, burak ang kulay dahil sa nikotin;

2. Kanser sa ilong (Nasal at paranasal cavities);

3. Kanser sa bunganga at dila- ang mga nagyoyosi na pinalalambitin ang sigarilyo sa bunganga ay may katiyakang magkakaroon ng kanser sa bunganga at dila;

4. Kanser sa sikmura -tinutubuan ng mga bukol;

;

5. Kanser sa pancreas. Tumutulong ang pancreas o lapay sa pagtunaw ng pagkain);

6. Kanser sa bato (kidney). Tumutulong ang bato sa paglalabas ng mga dumi sa katawan sa pamamagitan ng ihi;

7. Kanser sa suso - hindi makakapagpasususo ang ina na may kanser nito.  

BULOK NA MGA NGIPIN

Ang paninigarilyo ay nagdudulot ng pagkakaroon ng mga plaque at paninilaw ng mga ngipin. Dahil dito, maaaring mabulok at masira ang mga ngipin.

EMPHYSEMA, CHRONIC BRONCHITIS AT TUBERCULOSIS

Kanser sa baga, emphysema ( pagtutubig ng baga), mabigat na brongkitis, dumudura pa ng malapot na plema. Ang may TB naman ay nangangayayat, dumudura ng dugo kapag grabe na, at hirap na hirap huminga na maaaring magtuloy sa pagkamatay. 

DILAW NA MGA KUKO AT DALIRI

Ang tar sa yosi ay naiipon sa mga dlaliri at kuko nagiging sanhi ng paninilaw.

MABAHONG HININGA

Dulot ng yosi ang mabahong hininga at bunganga kahit na bagong sipilyo ng ngipin. Ang amoy ay galing sa bunganga at baga.

OSTEOPOROSIS

May lumalabas na carbon monoxide mula sa sigarilyo, hindi lamang sa tambutso ng mga sasakyan. Kapag nalanghap ito, naagaw nito ang puwesto ng oxygen sa dugo.Dahil dito mga buto ng naninigarilyo ay humihina, rumurupok at mabagal gumaling. Mas madali ring mabalian at magkaroon ng pananakit ng likod ang nagyoyosi. 

SAKIT SA PUSO

 

Maraming taong namamay dahil sa sakit sa puso. Dahil sa yosi, sa sigarilyo kaya may mga nagkakasakit sa puso. Narito ang mga sintomas:

1. Pagbilis ng tibok ng puso;

2. Mataas na blood pressure (altapresyon);

3. Baradong daluyan ng dugo; baradong mga ugat na nagiging sanhi ng heart attack o stroke;

Ang paglanghap ng usok ng yosi (Second hand smoke) o maamoy lamang ang usok ng yosi (thirdhad smoke) ay puwede ring magdulot ng sakit sa puso.

KANSER SA SERVIX AT PAGKALAGLAG NG BATA

Ang babaeng buntis na nagyoyosi ay maaaring: 

1. magka kanser;

2. magkaproblema sa pagbubuntis o mahirapang manganak;

3. humina ang kapit ng sanggol sa obaryo;

4. biglang mamatay ang sanggol (sudden infant death syndrome);

5. bumaba ang timbang ng bata; 

6. maging masasakitin ang bata, at

7. maagang magmenopause ang babae dahil sa pagbaba ng estrogen sa katawan.

ULSER SA SIKMURA

PInahihina ng yosi ang paglaban ng katawan sa mga mikrobyong pumapasok sa tiyan. Kung kaya't maaaring magka ulcer ang nagyoyosi. Dahil sa yosi, ang tiyan ay nangangasim kahit na kakakain pa lamang. Ang ulcer na dulot ng sigarilyo ay mas mahirap magamot, at mas madaling bumalik kahit na nagamot na kung patuloy ang (secondhand smoke) paninigarilyo. 

HOW TO COMPLAIN PROPERLY

TO ALL ADVOCATES AND EVERYBODY ELSE WHO HAS A LOT TO COMPLAIN 

ABOUT, THERE IS NOTHING LIKE GATHERING LIKE-MINDED INDIVIDUALS 

TO YOUR SIDE.

MAY I SUGGEST AVAAZ WEBSITE WHICH TEACHES HOW TO WRITE A PETITION.

BUhay

Anong mga paraan para makilala ang mga kandidato?

Mahalaga na ang taumbayan ay kilalaning mabuti ang kandidato,upang mapagtanto rin niya kung paano siyang kikilos kung mahalal na sa puwesto. Mahirap yung iboboto natin pero,hindi natin kilala ang mga kasama niya, ang nagawa na niya, ang mga nagawa na ng kanyang mga kasama, kung ano ang kanyang prinsipyo sa buhay, at maram pang iba.

Conelec ang dapat manguna sa pagpapakilala sa atin ng mga kandidato. Pero gumawa lamang sila ng mga listahan ng pangqlan at bahala na ang Diyos o tadhana kung makikilala ng mga tao ang mga pangalan na nabamggit. BInabanggit ito sa radyo oras oras. Ako talaga ay nagtataka. Ganin lang?

Ibig bang sabihin ng Comelec tayo ay magre research pa kung sinu-sino sila? Bibili ba tayo ng maraming dyaryo at magbabakasakaling may nakasulat tungkol dun sa kandidatong ito? O kaya ay makikinig ng radyo at manonood ng telebisyon upang makahagilap ng balita o impormasyon tungkolsa kanila?

At kung may pera naman, magbabayad ba siya ng isang researcher upang magsaliksik ng buhay buhay ng mga kandidato? Aba malaking trabaho yun.

At malaking pera ang kailangan.

Mga Kababayan ko, tulungan nating magisip ang mga taga Comelec. Mukhang naguguluhan na sila kung paanong itataas ang kaalaman at kamalayan ng ang taong bayan tungkol sa intelihenteng pagboto. Ayus-ayusin natin ang kanilang gawain upang masulit naman ang pasuweldo sa kanila.O Diyos Ko! Bakit ganito ang buhay pulitika sa atin?

CAMPAIGNING FOR LIFE

Campaigning among the masses in depressed areas could be inspiring, not depressing. The people are seasoned voters and they can distinguish between who is a true and genuine candidate and otherwise. "Yung dati uulitin na naman ang gagawin. Tingnan naman natin ang bago. Kung di magustuhan. di palitan. Yang pera isukbit, pambulsa. pero yung boto pang bolpen."

What can you say to that? I am not aiming at the counting machines but rather on revising the traditional views of people about politics. In my blog I have stated there what the people can expect from the government, what they will do, and what they can get.

It is so funny, Folks. I wrote on my tarpaulin in screaming letters, PAGKAIN Food Banks as well as TITULO NG LUPA. Then Mang George tacked the poster on the fence while I looked after his multicab. Did you know that as we were backing up to leave I saw another tarp with the caption "Free funeral services? "

I asked myself so what? The problem is not death but life. We ned to make the people survive happily in this world. Funeral services should be the least offering of any leader-to-be.

That service is really out of this world. One can always offer that once in office but not while campaigning. The people want to know now, "What can you do for us (instead of accompanying our dead body or giving us a free ride to the grave after we have died?)

You can see here Folks, how out of touch some officials could be.

Then there is another one who has four or five tarps in every street of the six disticts of QC. No words, just the picture, the name, the current position, no catching service.

Multiply an estimated ten streets per barangay. Add the tarps on the tricycles and those tacked on the houses. Then multiply by the number of barangays in QC -142. So that would be estimated at 300 per barangay x 142=  42600 x P30 per tarp =   P1,278,000.00.

In the inner streets of QC I saw the other local candidates with similar tarps gracing the fenses, the building walls, the jeepneys , and so many other places.

The expenses of candidates are staggering. Where did they get so much money? Pulse Asia and SWS and all other social research groups must give us an estimate of the total expenses for this exercise on a weekly basis if possible and who is spending the most. Are the expenses necessary and justifiable? Shouldn't the candidates have pooled all their resources together to feed the people daily with food rich in nutrients and then make them decide on a list as to who they will vote for?

The competition for the attention of the public through public advertising is hollow. How could people decide on the basis of a pcture, a smile, and a name on the tarp? The COMELEC must show the people how to offer oneself as a public servant more decently than doing it through tricycles, fences, building walls, etc. It must devise a better educational way of informing the public what standards they will use for judging candidates. And they should give the people correct information about each candidate. What is the Education Department of Comelec doing except of informing us of rules? All their letters are in English and so I doubt it if all of the candidates read them at all as they use the legal writing jargon  all the time. They lack that popular appeal in writing. I wonder why until now the Comlc is so detachd fom reality. They must think that speaking and writing inlegal jargon makes them look erudite and sikat. No sirs, no mesdames, the people po speak Pilipino dialects. Don't alienate the masses, especially those who still want to serve in government just because they don't have enough money to spend.

Actually, I have to rely on friends for my tarps, flyers and pamphlets. (I want to thank BZ, SA and EE for the help they have given me). I feel a stabbing in my guts seeing so much spending of great amounts for ephemeral objects. This is why I put up my blog Google botokomahalaga. I use that to tell the pople what I would do once in office. My earlier-created blog, Google thirdforce-prg contains this and other critical articles representing how I view an enlightened governance.

Folks, we cannot afford to gamble on people's lives. The youth have found an easy way out through drugs a form of suicide actually. They feel insecure about taking on the leadership of this country when we are gone. So we must prepare them intellectually, strengthen their moral fiber and show them the way that leadership can be learned. They ought to think of leading in the future and so we must show them to have that sympathy for the downtrodden. Leadership is not acquiring absolute power for oneself but for empowering all of our people so that our society will be steeped in generosity, kindness, sensitivity, a helping attitude, and all other values. We must teach them to pray too and show them that praying is not a sign of weakness but of communicating with the Divine to strengthen us as we go through all the trials and travails.

BAKIT GUGULUHIN ANG UMIIRAL NA KALAKARAN?

Bakit tayo umuuwi sa ating mga lalawigan? Dahil nais natin ng isang matiwasay na pamumuhay at maiwan lahat ng kagi-kagi sa Kamaynilaan. Nais nating makasamyo ng preskong hangin, maenjoy ang mga kalikasan. makatanaw ng mga luntiang bundok at pilapil, sana nga lang ay hindi yung mga may sabdibisyon.

Hanga ako sa mga Kababayan na mas gustong umuwi araw-araw sa mga lalawigan kesa sa maghanap ng espasyo dito sa MetroManila halos isang bangungot lalo na kapag rush hours. Alam nila ang gusto nila sa buhay at hinahabol nila.

Ngunit may mga galing ng probinsya na mga magbubukid at nagtatanim ng mga gulay sa Isabela, Cagayan, Nueva Vizcaya at mga bulubundukin ng Cordillera at Katimugang Katagalugan. Sila ang ating mga nagtitiyaga, nagsusunog ng kilay, nag-aalay ng mga sarili, ang mga Kababayan natin na pinapakain ang mga nagugutom sa MetroManila. At sila rin ang nagbibigay sa atin ng ating regular na suplay na mga gulat at iba pang kakainin.

Anong kababalaghan! Isang patakaran ng MetroManila Development Authority ang darating na nais “isara ang 46 terminals ng mga provincial buses at ibang public utility vehicles (PUVs) sa Edsa sa Hunyo, upang i-decongest, tanggalan ng traffic ang Kamaynilaan.

Hindi na mag-aaprub ng business permits  ipagbabawal ang pagi-isyu ng mga ito sa lahat ng terminals sa Edsa, bilang pagsunod daw sa direktiba ni Pres. Duterte.

Ang mga Terminal ay ililipat sa mga lungsod ng Paranaque, Sta. Rosa, at Valenzuela. Ang mga komyuter na galing sa capital ay kinakailangang lumipat sa mga MMLA PUVs. (Ref- Inq. March 28, 2019)

Ano ang mangyayari sa ating mga Kababayan na galing sa probinsiya? Sila ay bababa at aakyat ng Kamaynilaan. At pagkatapos isang grupo na naman ng mga behiculo ang papasok  ng Metromanila, na isang uri ng pagkilos na dagdag pahirap lamang. Yung mga may dalang bagahe na ibebenta ay mahihirapan dahil sa direktiba: doble, triple na isang uri ng pagpapahirap sa mga nahihirapan na nating mga kababayan.

Ilang taon na silang papunta at pabalik ng Kamaynilan, gamit ang kanilang maliit na kita para tumira sa probinsya? Subali’t ngayon, pinupwersa silang maglabas pa para lamang sa isang malabong solusyon sa trafik na magbabawal sa mga provincial buses.  

Ang ating kalusugan, ang ating buhay ay nasusustena ng mga pagkain na  hatid ng ating mga kababayan, ng ating mga kapatid na matiyagang nagtatanim, nag-aani para tayo ay mabigyan ng pagkain dito sa syudad. 

Dapat magpasalamat tayo sa kanila. Sa katunayan, nakatagpo ako ng isang magbubukid na nagbenta sa akin ng isang maliit na bote ng piniritong bawang sa halagang P120 sa Quezon City Hall.  Sa mga mall, napakamahal niyan. At kailangan ko ang bawang para lumakas ang aking katawan at makalaban ang mga sakit. Nakabili rin ako ng murang turmeric, kalahati ang presyo kesa sa mga sidewalk vendors na nagtitinda tuwing hapon sa paligid ng Quezon Memorial Circle.

Palagay ko, ang MMDA ay hindi naabisuhan ng mabuti sa mga binanggit na mga plano:

1.    Sinasaktan nila ang mga tao sa probinsiya pati na ang mga kababayan sa syudad na hindi nagkokotse at nakadepende sa mga hilaw na sangkap ng mga pagkaing galing sa probinsya;

2. Luluwagan daw nila ang mga syudad ng trafik pero yung mga taga probinsiya na nagko commute ay mapipilitang humanap ng matutulugan sa Kamaynilaan para lamang makatipid sa pamasahe;

3.    Ito ay magdudulot ng mga kaakibat na suliraning panlipunan.

a.    Ang mga pamilya ay sasabog at magkakahiwa-hiwalay sa halip na magsama-sama araw-araw. Paggawa ito ng isang stwasyong miniOWF, kung saan ang  mga pamilya ay watak-watak na. Ang mga problemang ganito ang nagtutulak sa mga taong gumamit ng droga upang malimutan ang lungkot ng hiwalay sa pamilya. (Si Pangulong D nga ay umuuwi linggu-linggo, sumasakay ng eroplano para makita ang pamilya niya sa Davao.)

b.    Kailangan din ng kaparehong bilang ng mga behikulo para maihatid sa Kamaynilaan ang mga pasaherong bumaba sa mga terminal na nabanggit sa taas. Kung gayon, nasaan ang paglutas ng trafik jan? (Ito ay batay sa interview ni Angelo Palmones sa isang opisyal ng bus consortium na maaapektuhan ng bagong direktiba.)

NGAYON, BAKIT GUGULUHIN ANG UMIIRAL NA KALAKARAN? 

Nais ko na pag-isipan natin ang transport hindi lamang sa punto ng paggalaw ng mga tao at kasangkapan. Ang Transport ay nangangailangan ng isang sosyolohikal na pananaw, isang mas malawak na pananaw ng tinitingnan ang buhay hindi lamang isang  walang humpay na pagkilos kundi ang pagbubuo ng mga magagandang relasyon sa pagtahak ng landas ng buhay.

Tayo ay nabubuhay sa isang lipunan, isang bansa na may mga taong may pareparehong pinagdaanang kasaysayan. Huwag nating sirain iyon at sa halip

Magbuo at maghubog tayo ng mga taong mapagkalinga, may damdamin sa mga tao (hindi robot)  na siyang magbubuo ng isang bukas na may kapantayan, maunlad at makatao para sa lahat at parating magpapahalaga ng ating magiting na kasaysayan.

WILHELMINA OROZCO

Google: botokomahalaga

Google: thirdforce-prg

PAGKAIN AT TITULO tarp

LOOK!

WHY DISTURB THE STATUS QUO?

Why do we go home to our home provinces? That's because it is so relaxing to leave all the cares in MetroManila and feel the fresh air, enjoy the still uncommercialized sites and the greenery if of course less all those ricefields that have been converted to subdivisions.

I admire our Kababayan who prefer going home everyday to the nearby provinces rather than seek a space here in MetroManila which has become a nightmare especially during rush hours. They know what they want in life definitely and follow it.

But other people who come from the provinces are the vegetable farmers from Isabela, Cagayan, Nueva Vizcaya and the mountainous Cordillera regions as well as from So
uthern Luzon. They are our persevering, industrious and self sacrificing Folks who know that their produce are feeding the hungry mouths in MetroManila. And so they are able to give us regular supplies of veggies and other food stuffs.

Horror of horrors, a new ruling of the MetroManila Development Authority aims to "close all 46 terminals for provincial buses and other public utility vehicles (PUVs) along Edsa by June in yet another bid to decongest the metropolis’ busiest thoroughfare.

The Metro Manila Council,  MMDA’s policy-making body, recently approved a resolution prohibiting the issuance and renewal of business permits to all such terminals along Edsa following a supposed directive from President Duterte.th

Bus operators will be relocated to bus terminals in the cities of Parañaque, Sta. Rosa and Valenzuela. Commuters coming into the capital will have to transfer to Metro Manila-bound PUVs." (Inq Mar 28, 2019)

What will happen to our daily commuting Kababayan from the provinces? They will be moving up and down and taking another bus to enter MetroManila. So another set of vehicles will be entering MetroManila cities for a redundant purpose. Those who are coming with baggages for sale will be doubly, triply burdened by the directive which is rather unfair. For many years they have been coming in and out of MetoManila and are able to use their small income to live in the provinces. Yet now they will be asked to shell out more for the shortsighted solution of traffic by banning provincial buses.

Our healthlifeline comes from the regional areas where our farmers continually produce the crops that would feed us here in the cities. We should be very grateful for that. In fact I met a vegetable farmer who had sold me her small bottle of fried garlic only for P120, normally pricedmuch higher than at mall groceries.

And I need the fried garlic to strengthen my body's resistance to diseases.

I also was able to buy turmeric at half the price which is regularly sold along the sidewalk vendors around the Quezon Memorial Circle.

I think the MMDA is ill-advised if it will proceed with the directive.

1. They are hurting not only the people in the provinces but also the non-car using folks of the cities who depend on cheap raw foods coming from the provinces;

2. They are congesting MetroManila cities more because those rural folks who commute to their jobs here will be looking for closer sleeping spaces so they can save on transport fares;

3. This has a concomitant social problem - families will be broken by the policy as members will be separated instead of being able to spend time together everyday. Hence this is creating the miniOFW situation where families are separated geographically. The psychological problems arising from that could be disastrous in the long run.

4. The same number of vehicles are needed to transport inwardly those who will be unloaded at the external terminals. So where is the decongestion solution there? I heard this info from the interview by Angelo Palmones over the radio with an officer whose consortium would be affected. I was shocked by the comical situation.

So why disturb the status quo?

I think we should not look at transport as just moving people and things. Transport requires a sociological approach, a broader view that life is more than always running about but creating harmonious ties along the way. We live in a society, a country with people with similar historical backgrounds. Let us not destroy but rather insure that we are shaping people into caring and nurturing individuals who will forge a future that is equal. prosperous, and humane for all and who will always praise and appreciate our great historical backgrounds.

WILHELMINA OROZCO

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