DOTC’s Mendoza blinks

The general reaction from our readers and friends regarding the decision of the Department of Transportation and Communications to suspend once again the implementation of the phasing out of buses that are 15 years old and over was to question its wisdom.

It appears to many observers that Secretary Leandro Mendoza bowed once again to mounting pressure from the bus operators and may have probably dodged the prospect of a tongue-lashing and even a possible relief from his job by the powers that be should the threatened transport strike materialize as menacingly howled by the bus transport groups if the phase out will be implemented — "talk about political will, actually the lack of it" — many of our readers proclaim.

Many are projecting that if the phase out would be implemented; major advantages would be realized not only by the riding public and the government but by the whole citizenry as well. Many of the commuters would enjoy the opportunity of traveling conveniently and in comfort minus the dilapidated buses that roam the metro’s roads. The "colorums" or buses that do not have legal franchises, and word has it that these make up the majority of these "rolling coffins", would be unmasked, which would be a big boost to the government’s present campaign against its existence. And finally the entire citizenry would benefit when we reduce the number of these smoke belchers and "poison-spewing machines" from our midst.

What many of the legitimate operators who resist the move may not realize is that the entire exercise would improve their business viability in the long haul as the enterprise would be limited to those who are seriously involved and concerned in the business venture’s overall P&L and eliminate those that are in the business only for their daily existence to the detriment of the entire industry not to mention the riding public.

So, the growing consensus among the keen observers of the Metro’s concerns is for the government to bite the bullet — transport strike threat or whatever — and go on with the phase out. It is believed that it will do well to more people than letting these "lung-busters" stay on the roads of the Metro. Letting them run in the countryside where there’s an unquestionable lack of decent public transportation may be an acceptable and practical option. With plenty of room via wide fields on both sides of the road to dissipate these old buses’ deadly emissions, it’s a choice of a lesser evil.

So Larry, please don’t blink!

Voting for auto & bike of the year "on-line" starts

The public may now vote "on-line" for their favorite sedan, SUV, AUV, pick-up or motorcycle as we determine this year’s most popular vehicle in each category with the one garnering the most number of votes getting the prestigious Petron Xtra 2006 Auto Focus Automobile/Motorcycle of the Year — People’s Choice Award.

The cyberspace surfers may log on to the Auto Focus website www.autofocus.com.ph and get a complete list of all the categories and the models under them, which you can vote for in this year’s polls. Our Auto Focus website shall also update you on which top two models in each category are leading in the voting. If you want more detailed information about certain models you can click into the particular model and it will bring you to the local website of the manufacturer or distributor (some still don’t have their own yet) and learn more about it.

In a few days time we shall commence with the voting through SMS or texting, for those who are less partial about voting via the internet. This process is being done courtesy of one of our major partners in this venture — Solar Interactive or SOLARi. Just watch out for announcements on what numbers to call.

Very soon we shall also be publishing here on the motoring section of The Philippine STAR as well as broadcast on the SPORTS PLUS channel a regular update on the leading top two contenders of each category to keep everyone abreast on the conduct of the polls for the most popular automobiles and motorcycles for 2006.

The public will again be given a chance to view up close, test drive and ride and learn everything they wish to know about all the technical specs and even sales promos of the latest and the best that the local auto and bike industries have to offer come April 21-22 & April 29-30. The Grand Display of the Petron Xtra 2006 Auto Focus Automobile/Motorcycle of the Year — People’s Choice Awards comes back to the Central Gateway 1 of Fort Bonifacio in these two weekends that are in the midst of summer where you and your entire brood can go. We shall line up a lot of activities that the entire family can join in or merely watch for exciting entertainment, with raffles of valuable prizes done every 10 minutes to boot.

The who’s who in the local automotive industry are displaying their best and latest in the Grand Display, Test Drive & Ride and are here listed in alphabetical order; Cats Motors, Ford Philippines, Honda Cars Philippines, Hyundai Asia Resources, Isuzu Philippines, Mazda Philippines, Nissan Motors Philippines, PGA Cars, Toyota Motor Philippines, Viking Cars and Honda Philippines (motorcycles).

We shall also keep you posted on the voting trends on Auto Focus, "the premier motor show on television that’s exclusively dedicated to the automobile", which has recently been moved to a better timeslot for better viewership (Friday, 10 o’clock in the evening, Channel 4 Manila/Channel 6 on Sky Cable and nationwide via satellite on NBN) together with the latest and best about the automobile and the auto industry.

Another notable Isuzu Dealership opens

Isuzu Philippines Corporation (IPC) has again made a step forward in bringing its remarkable products and services closer to its customers by opening another dealership.

Located along one of the main thoroughfares of Quezon City, Isuzu Quezon Avenue, one of the four Isuzu dealerships under the management wing of INTECO or Industrial and Transport Equipment, Inc., recently unveiled its new showroom and service facilities.

Top IPC executives lead by its president Mr. Yoshifumi Komura, together with Mr. Kazuhiko Sho, executive vice president and Mr. Ken Takashima, vice president for dealer network division, were all on hand during the inaugural event to congratulate Isuzu Quezon Avenue chairman Antonio Jarina. The IPC executives were one in recognizing the solid reputation of the dealership for having well-trained sales executives and efficient after sales technical staff, which rightfully represent the Isuzu image.

Our best to all the men and women of Isuzu Quezon Avenue!

On wheels or on wings — what’s faster?

Total’s Alexine Parenno dropped by our STV offices last week to personally invite us to a unique event lined-up this weekend in Clark pitting a privately-owned Mitsubishi Eclipse against a light plane for a race.

The thrilling prospect that’s organized and sponsored by Total (Philippines) Corporation happens during the Air Balloon Festival that’s slated this Saturday and Sunday at the former US Airbase in Pampanga.

That’s the limited info I have and I suggest you just check it out yourself if you feel that it can give you that much sought-after "adrenalin rush" this weekend.

Pit Lane Notes

After Adrian Neway and Peter Prodromou, the Formula 1 team of McLaren-Mecedes has lost yet another member of their technical team. Nicholas Tombazis is set to move back to Ferrari on March 1, making him the 3rd ‘casualty’ from the technical department. He was originally from the Scuderia but he left in 2003 to work with McLaren. Now I have no idea what is making all these people jump ship, but I’m inclined to think that there’s a deeper story behind this. It’s safe to say that life at the Silver Arrows camp isn’t a bed of roses. Now the question is, why? Or who? And more importantly, who’s next? Well, I think I can give you a pretty good idea. Guess who admitted to talking to other teams? Well, we all know that current World Champion Fernando Alonso will be joining McLaren in 2007, but no one knows who he’ll replace up until now. Juan Pablo Montoya recently admitted that he is considering offers of a number of Formula 1 teams. He also reportedly said that it doesn’t look like teammate Kimi Raikkonen will be ditched anytime soon, so I guess we can call this self-preservation on his part. Although rumors of Kimi joining the Prancing Horse camp at the end of 2006 have been circulating for a good part of the last year, nothing has been made official.

SPMJ’s on a roll

Last Friday and Saturday, February 3 & 4, 17 teachers and 29 students of Diliman Preparatory School were the fortunate beneficiaries of a wealth of knowledge on road safety by way of the "Early Warning" ROAD SAFETY SEMINAR organized by SPMJ, Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists and sponsored by Toyota Motor Philippines through its dealership, Toyota Commonwealth. This is the second of the twenty (20) schools that Toyota in the Philippines has volunteered to adopt by underwriting the seminars’ costs.

We thank the Rotary Club of Neopolitan Fairview, lead by Engr. Victor Roxas, of the DPWH’s Traffic Engineering and Management together with the Alliance of Quezon City Homeowners Association, with chairperson of Tulong Daan, Mrs. Consuelo Sison for helping us arrange this life-saving seminar.

In one of the seminar’s breaks where SPMJ members rotate to give a talk to help guide participating students to their future college days, especially those who may want to take the path leading to a career in journalism, SPMJ vice president and Bulletin motoring editor Pinky Colmenares learned from the students that they value road safety so much considering that they themselves know of friends and fellow students who have fallen victims to road accidents that happen right in Commonwealth Avenue where their school is located. Upon further inquiry by SPMJ founding directors, Brian Afuang, art director and motoring writer of Manila Times; Jenny Bleza, production manager of STV and Dong Magsajo, motoring editor of The Philippine STAR, it was learned that the accidents happened when students attempt to cross the very wide, multi-lane thoroughfare without using the overpasses located in the area, simply because some students are lazy to go up and down the elevated passageways while others, for a more alarming reason, fear to use them due to several muggings that have been committed right at the overpasses. Something authorities need to look into ASAP.

Now the good news, according to SPMJ Early Warning project director Quito da Roza is that there are several schools that have readily scheduled the road safety seminar in the weeks to come.

Yes! Aren’t we on a roll?

Happy Motoring!!!

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