It’s too long a wait

They have done it again! The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has postponed for the nth time the long-awaited start of the implementation of the bus dispatching scheme.

Last week’s launch was put off because the guest of honor — the President of the Philippines couldn’t make it to the ceremony. I wished she just sent a representative just so we could have finally started the experimentation and found out if it works.

We don’t expect this to immediately come out as the "answer to all our traffic problems" in EDSA. But if it is or it’s not, let’s find out. And we’ll never get to find out if the system stays in the minds of the leadership of the MMDA. We’ve got to try it. If it works, then more kudos to MMDA chairman Bayani Fernando. But if it doesn’t, I hope pride wouldn’t stop the same leadership to scrap it as soon as we find out that it’s a practical failure.

Come on, Mr. Chairman, let’s go on with it. No pompous ceremony with dignitaries would make the experimentation work. If it’s going to work, with or without the president in the launch — the system will work. If it won’t, not even the presence of Dubya Bush would make any difference.

Toyota Inks All-Out Support For SPMJ Project

It’s finally official and in black and white — the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between The Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists (SPMJ) and Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMPC) regarding the latter’s support for SPMJ’s "Early Warning" project was signed in very simple yet meaningful ceremonies last week.

The project, one of several to support SPMJ’s road safety advocacy, calls for the conduct of seminars for teachers and students. Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation (TMPC), in line with the global commitment of Toyota Motor Company (Japan) to support socially-relevant projects and endeavors, has agreed to "adopt" a total of 26 high schools in Metro Manila by providing the needed funds to underwrite the logistical requirements of the seminars.

"This endeavor is the greater part of our commitment to create a total awareness regarding road safety in the country. While fully supporting the SPMJ in the education of the youth to make them future safe and responsible road users, we are also supporting the Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP) in conducting seminars for different sectors of society regarding road safety," Mr. Nobuharu Tabata, TMPC president said after the signing ceremonies at their offices at the GT Tower in Makati.

We congratulate the SPMJ for initiating this "first-of-its-kind" endeavor in the country while we in Toyota are very privilege to be the first to support it," added Dr. David Go, president of Toyota Motor Philippines Foundation, who together with Engr. Serafin Pantaleon, TMPC svp for management services has been working every step of the way to see the partnership a reality.

The SPMJ founding members (Pinky Colmenares & Popong Andolong of the Bulletin, Dong Magsajo of The Philippine STAR, Vernon Sarne of the Manila Times, Ron delos Reyes of Auto Review, Jenny Bleza of Sunshine Television and your columnist) came in full force although Anjo Perez & Erle Sebastian of the Bulletin and Brian Afuang of the Manila Times had to beg off due to previous assignments.

"The objective of the seminar is to teach the young become responsible and safe "road users" — and that’s as soon as you step out of your homes and into the streets," declared Quito da Roza, SPMJ’s director for the "Early Warning" project.

Watch out, your school may one of the few lucky ones that would initially benefit from this worthy endeavor.

Honda’s Wave 125 Motorbike Hits The Market Anew

With new attention-catching colors like Candy Lightning Blue, Asteroid Black Metallic, Candy Energy Orange and Millennium Red, Honda Philippines, Inc., manufacturers of the largest-selling motorbikes in the country and in the world, presented the WAVE S 125 in Eastwood, Libis.

"We know many will be fascinated by the WAVE’s new vibrant colors as they feel real motorcycle riding pleasure with is powerful 125cc engine," said Mr. Yasuhiro Oyama, Honda Philippines president during the launching ceremonies marked by exceptionally good food (the oysters were heavenly) and band music for the young — the very market of the sporty Honda WAVE.

Oyama-san also took the opportunity to invite all motorbike enthusiasts to join the 3rd leg of the "Honda One Make Series" at the Batangas Racing Circuit on October 8, this coming Saturday. A very special guest invited by Honda will be Noburo Ueda, the Japanese motorbike racer who is presently a title-holder of 13 race victories in the World Grand Prix of motorcycles, who’s scheduled to hold a safety riding clinic.

Pit Lane Notes

This is what sets Formula 1 apart from the competition. Now that the race for the Driver’s Championship is over and done with, people who aren’t F1 fans would probably think that the league isn’t worth watching anymore. Well, they’re wrong because there’s still that matter of the Constructor’s title to be contested.

The individual battle between Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso may be over, but we can all still expect these two to go at it in the coming races. Ferrari has dominated the league so well these past couple of years that they have successfully held both titles, but this year there is a huge possibility that the champion driver will not be coming from the champion team.

Although Renault has won titles before — with both Williams and Benetton — this is their first championship as a stand-alone team. Quite an accomplishment, and with an extremely young driver at that. In fact, the youngest champion in Formula 1 history. I shudder to think how good this kid will progressively get in the coming years. Do I smell another Schumacher-like domination? Well, despite the extraordinary feat he had just achieved, the young Spaniard continues to be quite humble. He reportedly said that although he is on top now, next year could very well be a very different story.

So the Jenson Button saga finally aired its season finale, and we couldn’t have asked for a more anticlimactic ending: he reportedly paid his way out of his commitment with Williams to the insane tune of $36,000,000! But wait — it may sound like a lot of money to us, but I guess to him it’s just spare change. After all, the grapevine says that BAR Honda is paying him $90 million in four years.

Wow. Those figures tell me that I’m in the wrong profession.

Motoring Tip Of The Week

You are driving along the highway at a fast clip when suddenly the hood of the automobile you are driving suddenly flings open and blocks your sight of the road ahead, what do you do and not do?

What not to do is to slam at your brakes. Doing this can cause more aggravating consequences like the car behind you crashing your rear or you, yourself loosing control of your own vehicle.

What you can do right away is to back off, meaning release your accelerator pedal to reduce your speed without suddenly stopping and open your windows and get your head out to see ahead. Then slowly maneuver your vehicle to the side of the road.

Premier Motor Shows on TV

Auto Focus, which airs every Saturday at 11 pm, will have the new Mazda6 2.3L as its auto feature with Overdrive’s editor Anjo Perez as our guest motoring journalist on Q&A to answer all your questions about the automobile. We shall have a feature-to-feature comparison of the Ford Explorer and the Mitsubishi Pajero, two highly competing SUVs in the local market presently. We shall also have Lyn Buena of Viking Cars to present the unique features of the Volvo XC70, our backdrop car of the week while having a special feature spotlighting the recently held Honda Fuel Eco-run’s first leg.

Motoring Today, for this Sunday at 11:30 am shall have a real treat for all Rally enthusiasts as we have the highlights of the exciting Rally of Great Britain of the WRC on Race Weekend and the continuing discussions on the use of alternative fuels on the segment Motoring Forum.

These two long-time running motor shows on Philippine television are both aired on Channel 4 Manila and nationwide via satellite o the National Broadcasting Network.

Happy Motoring!!!

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