Mayor Joseph Estrada has postponed the start of the expanded truck ban in Manila from Feb. 10 to Feb. 24 to give the truckers and their clients time to adjust their operations to the new schedule. The longer truck ban during the day—from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven hours longer than the present restrictions—is the latest attempt of the city government to ease traffic congestion not only in Manila but also in neighboring cities. The truckers are protesting the new schedule because it would adversely affect their operations and that of their clients.
The truckers haul container vans from Manila’s Port Area to the warehouses of their clients scattered all over Luzon. They said delay in the delivery of these materials would also delay the operations of the importers and exporters and would result in billions of pesos in losses.
True, but the traffic jams caused by these giant truck-trailers in Metro Manila’s narrow streets cause much more losses to the economy, in terms of lost work-hours and lost business opportunities, as well as wastage of hundreds of millions of pesos worth of expensive fuel burned by vehicles caught in the traffic jams.
Still, the truckers’ complaint that they cannot deliver the cargo from the piers to their clients on time is true. Even Customs Commissioner John Phillip Sevilla is worried. Anywhere from 800 to 1,000 cargo trucks go in and out of the Port of Manila every 12 hours of each day, he said. And the congestion will surely get worse due to the longer truck ban, he added.
Isn’t one answer to lessen the load on the Port of Manila? Why not unload some of the cargo in the Port of Batangas instead of in Manila? Those bound for South Luzon should be unloaded in the Batangas port while those going north should be unloaded in Manila. The load on the Port of Manila would be lessened by at least 50 percent.
One more thing: Do you know that cargo used to be hauled from Manila’s Port Area by train? There were railroad tracks running from the Port Area to Divisoria to Tutuban to Caloocan and, from there, to either North or South Luzon. I think the rail tracks are still there, buried under concrete and asphalt. Why not revive and rehabilitate them so that cargo can be hauled out of the Port Area by trains instead of the trucks that at present really cause traffic congestion in Manila’s narrow streets?
Our railroad was operating efficiently until the administration of President Diosdado Macapagal. Whenever Macapagal went to Baguio, he took the train up to Damortis, La Union. From there, cars and first-class buses of the railroad company took the passengers up Kennon Road to Baguio.
The railroad then ran from San Fernando, La Union, to Legazpi, Albay. The Bicol Express took you on first-class coaches to Legazpi at night. When you wake up the next morning, you see Mayon Volcano rising out of the clouds through the train windows.
Succeeding administrations allowed the Philippine National Railways to deteriorate to its present sad state. While members of Congress and their cohorts stole billions of pesos of the people’s money through the pork barrel system, the government denied the PNR funds to keep it running efficiently.
I think our government officials were seduced by American automotive companies to put our money instead on cars and buses that they produce. The results are the present traffic jams not only in urban areas but also on the highways and the roads of rural towns. Yes, traffic congestion is spreading, like some malignant cancer, to the rural towns. When you exit NLEx to go to one of the towns of Bulacan, you are met with traffic jams that make you think that you are still on Edsa.
The administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo tried to revive the railroad through the North Rail Project. Hundreds of millions of pesos were spent to pay off squatters to move away from the railroad right-of-way. But graft scuttled the project and squatters have moved back to the railroad right-of-way. The government will have to spend hundreds of millions of pesos more to make them move away again.
Don’t let the North Rail fiasco deter the revival and improvement of the railroad. I think we have learned enough from the North Rail fiasco to avoid another graft-laden project.
The government of South Korea has offered to revive our railroad through their international cooperation agency, the counterpart of Japan International Cooperation Agency. The Koreans will package the whole thing. All they need is an official letter from the Philippine government.
Why don’t we accept the offer? Korea has a fast train that rivals Japan’s famous “bullet train.” But we don’t even need a “bullet train,” at least not yet. All we need at present is to revive our old railroad. Think how it would ease our transportation woes.
It is ironic that the Philippines, which had the first railroad (and the first civilian airline) in Asia, now has the most decrepit railroad in the region. President Aquino should not forget the railroad.
* * *
Still don’t know where to take your wife and/or sweetheart this Valentine’s Day? Why not take them to listen to one of the Philippines’ favorite balladeers, two-time Grammy Award winner Jack Jones. He will perform at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Feb. 13 and at the Manila Hotel Tent on Feb. 14.
In case you have forgotten, some of Jack’s popular songs include “She,” “Wives and Lovers,” “Lollipops and Roses,” “The Impossible Dream,” “The Love Boat” theme, “The Race is On,” and “The Windmills of Your Mind,” among others.
For details, call 02-8996948.