More roads for those who have less in life!

Former President and now Congresswoman of Pampanga Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is pushing for a law that prohibits or regulates the commercial use of sidewalks to ensure the smooth flow of pedestrian traffic. Let me say it here that finally someone has taken interest in the unbridled use or should I say the misuse of our sidewalks, which in highly-urbanized areas have become just another “Tiangge” or flea market, thus contributing to the worsening traffic situation we have to endure everyday of our lives, whether you live in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu or in Cagayan de Oro.

However, before she pushes this bill, I’d like to recommend to Rep. Gloria Arroyo that she ought to first look into our National Building Code (NBC) because since I started writing columns 24 years ago, I never heard any moves to amend the NBC. Mind you, our sidewalks are only a couple of meters wide depending on the width of the road. If your main road is wide, then the sidewalks are supposedly bigger. But then how many main roads do we really have?

However all this was okay in the ’50s when we only had a population of less than 15 million. Today, with the Philippine population pegged at 90 million people… many of us have to walk along the road because the sidewalks are not wide enough and when there’s space available, you can bet that a sidewalk vendor has occupied this space as if it were his or her personal property for commercial purposes. Worse than those vendors arrogating the sidewalks is the tolerance of our local government authorities to stop people from vending on the sidewalks simply because they are scared that come election time, those vendors will vote for the other candidate.

A couple of years ago, I interviewed former Bogota Mayor Enrique Peñalosa when he was in Cebu and he used the famous quotation by the late Pres. Ramon Magsaysay who once said, “There should be more law for those who have less in life.” Mayor Peñalosa rephrased that quotation by saying, “There should be more roads for those who have less in life!” This is really true, especially when he showed us video footages of the poor people in Colombia who had to walk on narrow sidewalks, while the rich have wide spaces or roads for their cars. Where then is equal justice for all?

While that video footage was shot in Colombia, it might as well be filmed in the Philippines because we have so many similarities with many Latin American countries, aside from the fact that like them we too are a predominantly Catholic nation. Yet like these countries, we too are considered a 3rd world country.

I dare say that Congress ought to get their heads together and make this a priority legislation that gives back our sidewalks to pedestrians. No doubt the private sector has moved so far ahead, government has failed to catch up with them. Just go to rich enclaves like the Fort or Eastwood in Metro Manila and you will see a well-landscaped property development, including wide roads and wide sidewalks. You’d think you’re in the good ol’ USA! The same thing is happening at the Ayala Shopping Center in Cebu City, but get out into the main road and you will get a reality check of our being a third world country!

Even solving the chaotic traffic in Metro Manila has to start with giving priority to the mass transit system, whether it is the venerable jeepneys, buses or the Light Rail Transit (LRT) especially along EDSA. Alas, our urban planners, including our traffic managers, favor cars along EDSA and would even dare remove buses plying the EDSA route. They obviously do not succumb to that dictum “There should be more buses for those who have less in life.” That’s due to the fact that for so many decades the powerful people in government favor the franchise holders of buses, airplanes and ships without any regard for the passenger. Well under P-Noy’s administration, the passenger has been elevated to the status of “Boss”. Let’s see if the “Boss” can finally get his due?

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I have served the Regional Development Council (RDC-7) for more than 20 years and whenever we have a new administration, chances are, the new RDC heads are appointed within the first months under a new President. But apparently under the administration of Pres. Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III, it’s been five long months before anyone was appointed into the RDC and finally, P-Noy got into appointing the RDC heads a few days ago.

What is not surprising in the appointments of the new RDC heads is that, all of them belong to the Liberal Party (LP). For Region 7, Gov. Agustin Perdices has been chosen by P-Noy. Unfortunately, Gov. Perdices is stricken with cancer, so this means that the RDC in Region 7 would be convened either by the co-chairman or the NEDA secretariat.

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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected] or [email protected]. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com