The C-5 is still a death trap

After a long time of not passing through the C-5, which was really more of choice rather than anything else, I recently drove through this arguably fast highway and I found out that much have not really changed in terms of making it safe for motorists and pedestrians alike.

They say that it is now better lit and that there’s more police visibility in the stretch to prevent thieves from again and again stealing the wiring of the lighting system but I have not passed through the C-5 at night for a long, long time to confirm this.

But making the C-5 a safe thoroughfare does not stop at making it better lighted and with improved police visibility, if this is really now the case, but to have the entire stretch fenced so that nobody would be able to play "patintero" with motorists while crossing the metro’s alternate highway. And putting pedestrian lanes will not help either. The best thing to do, as a "stop-gap" before the fencing, is to put more pedestrian overpasses and have the police, which are supposed to be more visible already, apprehend those who still insist on dangerously crossing the road.

I don’t have the data right now but I can bet my bottom peso that the number of deaths from accidents in the C-5 can send chills to many of you, enough to make you decide, like what I did, to avoid passing through what’s literally a death trap.

The C-5 has been built, deliberately designed or otherwise, to be a fast highway and as such should not have pedestrian crossings (unless by overpass) and should be fenced to make it safe for all motorists and everybody in the area.

Yes, yes, we don’t have the money. But what happened to the Road Users Tax? Isn’t this supposed to be used for such purposes? The government has a lot of explaining as to what happened to the billions of pesos in their coffers out of this very controversial tax measure. Maybe the C-5 can be the government’s initial showcase of where the money from the Road Users Tax would go, that is, if the money were still there.

The Fort Escape

After a week’s hard work, nothing like having the chance to escape and get away from it all on a Friday night. But it was not going to be that last week. We went to the Global City not for a "Fort escape" but to witness the grand launch of the all-new "Ford Escape."

Ford Group Philippines describes the Escape as "a fun and versatile compact SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle) that will offer superior performance, unique "fun-tough" styling and new levels of comfort and convenience for those who are looking for a complete lifestyle vehicle."

The NBC Tent at the Fort was almost filled to the brim with local Ford executives, dealers, long-time clients, future buyers and members of the media, many even coming early in anticipation of the usual horrendous Friday evening traffic. Food and drinks were flowing as guests were treated to a super-charged song-and-dance number when the new local automotive market offering was rolled right into the eager crowd.

There weren’t many speeches that night.

Ford Group Philippines’ first Pinoy president, Henry Co, glowed that, "the Escape will meet the needs of the growing market of customers who are looking for a vehicle not just to take them to work and back during the week but also provide them with enough fun and agility for their weekend activities."

Dave Macasadia, Ford Group Philippines vice president for sales and marketing, said: "The Escape is designed to appeal to younger buyers as well as the young at heart – drivers who want fun, agile, sporty, durable, affordable and fuel-efficient transport to take them through their busy lives. They may not have considered buying an SUV before but the Escape will be a perfect solution – a blend of image, versatility and affordability in a size that meets all their needs."

Some of the listed attributes of the Ford Escape include the following; four-wheel independent suspension for refined ride and handling, the most spacious interior in the small SUV class, 2.0-liter 16 -valve Zetec engine with 4-speed auto transmission or manual transmission, all-new Control Trac II – Ford’s 4-wheel drive system with a switch to select "4x4 On" which sets the system into 50/50 torque split or "4x4 Auto" which lets the system split the torque when needed, up to 1000 pounds towing capacity – enough to pull jet skis and four doors and a rear lift gate with flip-up glass for better access, to name a few.

The Ford Escape comes in two variants with the XLS 4x2 (manual) priced at P1.07 million while the higher-end XLT 4x4 (automatic) is pegged at P1.310 million.

Ford Group Philippines avp for marketing Maricar Cristobal-Parco, who was there to make sure everything turned out as planned during the launch, gave an assurance that buyers of the Ford Escape, like those of other Ford models in the market, are also lined up for some exciting fun activities that they have planned in the very near future.

Congratulations are in order for a very successful launch.

Formula One Update

Michael Schumacher has broken countless records this season, but don’t stop counting, because he ain’t done yet. Not by a long shot.

After grabbing his first ever pole position in qualifying in the Belgian Grand Prix Saturday in the course of his long and illustrious 11 year career, he won his 10th GP this year, thus beating out Nigel Mansel’s record of nine wins in a season in the process. Just to further prove Ferrari’s dominance, that marked the 50th straight time that at least one Ferrari driver stood on the podium, teammate Rubens Barrichello came in 2nd. Juan Pablo Montoya of BMW-Williams clocked in 3rd place, David Coulthard of McLaren took home 4th place honors, Ralf Schumacher was 5th, and, the surprise of the weekend, Jaguar’s Eddie Irvine,took the last of the championship points as he clocked in 6th.

In the 16 races this season, Schumi won a spectacular 10, teammate Rubino won 2, while DC and Ralf took a win each. Talk about pure and utter dominance.

We all know Jenson Button will be teaming up with Jacques Villenueve next year as he already signed a contract with BAR Honda effective 2003, but it looks like another team is beefing up its lineup as well. Mika Salo has decided to retire from F1 racing after this season after coming to a mutual decision with Toyota to part ways, while Allan McNish’s contract will expire at the end of the year. Toyota has already acquired the services of Frenchman Oliver Panis – his contract is good for two years. The team is still undecided, however, as to who will be Panis’ teammate.

Motoring Mafiosi at Work

An exclusive group of motoring journalists has lined up a 3-day workshop in Boracay starting tomorrow.

Jointly sponsored by Asian Spirit thru the courtesy of Mr. Jack Po, exec. vice president, and Ling Ling Rodriguez, sales and marketing manager, and Philippine Tourism Authority headed by its indefatigable general manager Mr. Nixon Kua, the workshop is aimed to give these journalists better insights into the role of motoring in promoting local tourism.

Monthly workshops with key government officials and major industry players have been lined up by the group in order to get them better equipped in their writings.

Happy motoring!!!!!!

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