Urban planning

There is one dramatic way to decongest Metro Manila, and feel its effects immediately: move the existing Metro Manila military camps elsewhere. For instance, if the government can get Fort Aguinaldo and Camp Crame out of the bustling metropolis, just imagine the dramatic transformation that will happen in Metro Manila. The drop in the number of people and vehicles moving around in the metropolis will have significant consequences.

Right now, tens of thousands of policemen and soldiers, and thousands of military vehicles, ply the Aguinaldo-Crame camps. And the movement of men and vehicles goes on, day-by-day, hour by hour, minute-by-minute. What a relief the harassed commuters and motorists in Manila will get if Aguinaldo and Crame are no longer where they are now.

When we were in Congress in 1989 to 1992, then Rep. Jose de Venecia and I would talk about his grand dream of earning money to fund government operations. And one of Joe's proposals was to sell off all the military camps inside Metro Manila. Joe would rattle off figures bordering on billions and billions of pesos, even trillions of pesos, to accentuate the wisdom of transferring the military camps elsewhere.

When media colleagues Conrad Banal, Larry Sipin, Ben Evardone and I had lunch last Wednesday with Megaworld's Andrew Tan, we talked about the possibility of getting the two forts from where they are now. Andrew suggested that the government could earn more -- more than what it got from the Fort Bonifacio deal -- if it auctioned off, by blocks, the huge land areas of Aguinaldo and Crame. "That is also an assurance that the buyers will not run out of money to develop the areas allocated to them," Andrew said.

The fear correctly expressed by Andrew is that if there is only one buyer for a huge chunk of land, he might use up all of his money to buy that land, and not have enough left to develop it. So many land development projects have been in limbo because of this.

Many concerned citizens hope that President Estrada will have visionaries who can help him design the master plan of projects like the transfer of military camps out of Metro Manila. And they hope these visionaries will be motivated solely by the nation's interest, not by any hidden agenda aimed at gratifying their hunger for material wealth.

Last Thursday afternoon while most in Metro Manila were engaged in routinary, day-to-day activities aimed at survival, six fashionable, kindlooking, and lovely ladies -- all officials of the two-year-old hyperactive Sta. Mesa Heights Ladies Club -- dropped by my office for a different purpose. They came, not to ask for something, but to share part of what they have, with the less fortunate in life.

President Josie Sioson, Vice President Cecile Varela, Treasurer Lina Querubin, Assistant Treasurer Tina Villaruz, Auditor Gloria Kho, and Overall Coordinator Marilou Crisostomo -- all of them sported faces that exuded warmth, joy and sunshine, a clear sign of the sincerity planted in their golden hearts. Yes, these are God-blessed ladies who find happiness in sharing with their fellowmen.

Every Friday evening, starting at 6 p.m., the Sta. Mesa Heights Ladies Club sponsors an affair, at the campus of the P. Gomez Elementary School, designed to raise funds for the club's charitable projects. This is the Friday Night Ballroom Dancing, which is open to one and all. For a modest fee, one can dance the night away and, in the process, help a fellowman in need.

Club Prexy Josie Sioson, whose husband is a three-term city councilor, has other big plans for the Sta. Mesa Heights Ladies Club. Livelihood projects for the disadvantaged, the construction of a clubhouse, bingo affairs and other fund-raising projects -- these are parts of her dreams for a club that exists to be of service to the community and the country.

Before they left my office, the ladies turned over a donation of P3,000 for the beneficiaries of the Good Samaritan Foundation. Ms. Lina Querubin also handed to me a donation of P1,000 (LBP 0034982) from Mel Querubin. Thanks a million!

The Philippine National Oil Company Employees Association, as part of its outreach program, sent a donation of P6,500 which will be parcelled out to the various indigent beneficiaries of the Good Samaritan Foundation. The PNOC employees who contributed to the P6,500 pool are Raul de Leon, P3,000; Jenny Bitangcol, P1,000; Loida Cruz, P500; Frank Delfin, P500; and an anonymous donor, P1,500.

Thanks, and God bless, too, the following Christian-hearted individuals who, despite hard times, are sharing part of what they have with those who have so little in life:

* OVJ, who runs a farm in Tanay, Rizal, P1,000 for the Farole quadruplet

* Friends of Dean Christopher and Mary Ann Espina of the UP College of Architecture, P20,000 (Bank of Commerce 0076357)

* Anonymous, from Pandacan, Manila, P4,000 (BPI 0034159)

* Mr. & Mrs. Patricio Cotoner of Pina/Santol Subdivision, Sta. Mesa, Manila, P1,000

* CVY & family, Tagaytay City St., Capitol Subdivision, Bacolod City, P20,000

* Lucy Basco of Laon Laan St., Sampaloc, Manila, P1,500

* ELZ of Tuguegarao, Cagayan, P500 (Metrobank 1030050430)

* Rafael Denill of Nazareth Avenue, Palmera V, Antipolo City, P1,000 (thru FEBTC)

I think it was six or seven years ago when HSBC, then called HongkongBank, joined me in implementing "Operations Christmas Joy" at the Philippine Orthopedic Center in Banawe, Quezon City. The top officials of HSBC, led by Bryan Fredrick, were there during that Christmas season, and every Yuletide season thereafter, to bring some moments of joy to the indigent childrens confined at the hospital.

After several years, HSBC decided to make a playland out of a vacant lot adjacent to the POC children's ward. Millions of pesos were spent by HSBC to construct that elegant, high-class playland, which was eventually officially turned over by HSBC to the hospital, through Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

You know what? HSBC, which is one of the country's oldest foreign banks, decided to expand its vision of corporate social responsibility. And its efforts to lend a helping hand to the less fortunate in society are going to be formally marked this Tuesday, January 25, at the Philippine School for the Deaf along FB Harrison, Pasay City, at 10 a.m., with the turnover of a two-story building pre-school and special education center to the school, again through Vice President Macapagal-Arroyo.

HSBC officials led by Paul Lawrence, HSBC chief executive officer, will be there, to join VP Macapagal-Arroyo in celebrating another great stride forward in the nation's effort to uplift the lives and welfare of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), especially the hearing-impaired. Cheers!

Art A. Borjal's e-mail address: <[email protected]>