Water wastage, street clogging & OFW earnings

A bit late, but still worthy of space in this column is this letter sent by Rob Mantel, an expatriate who has made the Philippine his new home, on water wastage.

This is followed by a letter each from two more readers, Veegee Garcia and Clemente Juan, with suggestions on how to improve traffic flow and maximize the power of OFW remittances, respectively. Please read on.  

Water wastage

From Rob Mantel: “A bit of belated reaction to your article in The STAR on June 17, 2014. I just want to add another concern of water abuse: free flow.

“I live in Roxas, Isabela, and we see that nearly in every barangay and surrounding villages, people have access to free flow drinking water. Those free flows have seen an explosive growth recently.

“The consequence, however, is that the normal (hand) pumps are running dry, and villagers and farmers need to drill deeper in order to get water again.

“It is not El Niño, but simply waste.

“Just a couple of days ago, an article from the DA (Department of Agriculture) in The STAR asked to plant less water-intensive plants instead of wet rice. In the article, the DA acknowledged that there are very many complaints about the lack of water.

“I certainly wish that every person has access to water, whether they pay for it or not.

“My point is: Why free flow? Why not just put a faucet on it?

“My background is that I am a farmer (wet rice and corn). I pay my workers a bit more, both in natura and money than my neighbors, because the poverty is abhorrent.

“Originally I come from Holland and grew up with water control and certainly not this kind of poverty.

“I hope that my concern will contribute to your research.”

Street clogging

From Veegee Garcia, another of our readers, is another sensible suggestion to help ease traffic congestion in Metro Manila. Here goes: “Masaya St. in U.P. Village, Quezon City is an alternate route of many vehicles specially from 7 to 9 a.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. on weekdays.

“Jeepneys, however, use the street as a waiting area.

“Since the MMDA (Metro Manila Development Authority) and the Quezon City government apparently are helpless in banning their parking in the area, maybe MMDA can prohibit parking of all types of vehicles at least for the peak hours stated above to prevent clogging of the street, which becomes filled with vehicles heaving office- and school-going passengers.

“And also, prohibit parking along Masaya St. and remove the obstructions going out to Commonwealth Ave. So many things are blocking the sidewalk and the curbside.”

OFW remittances for an education fund

Lastly, from Clemente Juan, another reader, is a suggestion dealing with OFW remittances. He says: “I agree in principle that the OFW remittances are indeed wasted and mostly diverted to the national coffers through unseen/diverted taxes that does not benefit the poor Filipino people.

“In my opinion, 20 percent of the remittances be equated to a 20 percent equal source of fund from the Philippine government as a source of funds for the exclusive education of the poor Filipino for sound scholarship grants.”

Champions League (PCCL) at Cebu City

Cebu City is currently hosting key games in the Champions League (PCCL) 2014 National Collegiate Championship. University of San Carlos Warriors and Southwestern University Cobras are playing the best-of-five series at the Cebu City Coliseum for two titles: CESAFI-Cebu and PCCL Overall Southern Islands championships.

For the first time, the entire championship series will be covered by television through ABS-CBN Sports and Action channel, Studio 23, where the highly popular UAAP games are also shown.

SWU Cobras, last year’s Champions League (PCCL) Southern Islands titleholder, will try to make history as the top Visayas-Mindanao team for two consecutive years.

Serving as appetizer for the championship series is the PCCL Vis-Min Qualifying games. Competing in this knock-out games are University of Visayas, University of San Jose-Recoletos, University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos and Holy Trinity College of General Santos.

The winner advances to the Elite Eight phase of Champions League (PCCL) 2014 National Collegiate Championship.

Already assured of seats in the Elite Eight phase are UAAP teams,FEU Tamaraws and NU Bulldogs, and CESAFI teams, University of San Carlos Warriors and Southwestern U Cobras. Other seats are reserved for the top two NCAA teams and the winners of Luzon-Metro Manila and Vis-Min Qualifying games.

Two more regional games are scheduled during the first week of November to determine the qualified teams for the Luzon-Metro Manila Qualifying games. The South Luzon-Bicol games will be held at J. C. Lobredo Coliseum in Naga City on November 3 to 4, 2014 with the participation of champion teams from Sorsogon, Quezon province, Naga, Tabaco, Batangas, Cavite and Laguna.

The North-Central Luzon regional games are scheduled on November 3 to 5, 2014, to be held at Lyceum North Western University Gym, Dagupan City. Participating are the collegiate champions of Vigan, Baguio-Benguet, Pangasinan, La Union, Pampanga and Zambales.

All the regional championship games will be covered by ABS-CBN Sports and Action, Studio 23, and shown nationwide.

The Champions League (PCCL) National Collegiate Championship is sponsored and supported by media partners, Philippine Star & ABS-CBN, Phoenix Petroleum, Molten Balls, Fil-Oil Flying V Sports, Fog City Creamery, and Foccacia. Tickets are available at SM Tickets online.

Visit www.CollegiateChampionsLeague.net for more details about the nationwide competitions.

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