| Kuro-kuro Ko Lamang |
by: Rtn. Chuck Montecillo
Well, the end of the Millenium is finally here! The year 2000!
Let me see… I’m writing this column on the 22nd of December, 1999. This means I
have no idea what will have happened at the time you read this. So, here are some of my
predictions. What do you think about them?
1. The MRT System will still be a long way from being done. Ok, this should be a given,
but my prediction is that it isn’t even close to where they should be at this point
in time.
2. The traffic diversion through the villages had little or no impact on the betterment of
traffic flow. If anything, things may have gotten worse. After watching a TV show with
Jejomar Binay quoting a flow rate of cars, in two lanes to be 1800 per hour, I highly
doubt, with dubious numbers like that, that traffic will ever have a chance for improving.
Geez, what planet did those stats come from?
3. The Millenium celebrations were “kind of” well attended. At the prices of
entry that are being charged, I think a large number of people will opt to stay home.
Count me in as one of those people. I like that I can view more than one celebration on
the tube in the comfort of my own home.
4. The Y2K readiness of the Philippines will start to show its “true” self.
Business will go on as usual, since computers are still used as just backups to hard
copies, instead of the other way around in many establishments. I remember a hospital,
here in Makati, where the billing is still computed with hand held calculators and
columnar note books. That would not normally be much of a surprise, but this medical
facility had computers running screen savers for hours on end while these transactions
were manually computed! So, Y2K shouldn’t impact them too severely. So much for
technology at work.
5. Back to traffic. The MRT will have been operational for a couple of weeks, but the
traffic will still remain as before. This will be so because the congestion on the road is
not caused by the shear number of vehicles (even if there are too many cars, buses and
trucks), but because it is the way these vehicles are driven that cause the traffic jams.
The movement or flow of vehicles will naturally be slow, but if traffic rules were truly
obeyed and enforced, the situation would at least be tolerable. Plus, the fares for the
train trips are on the high side. I believe that most people will still use the ever
efficient pollutant buses. This then means, the number of these buldozers… I
mean busses, will not deminish anytime soon. Despite all the infrastructure added and
modified (ie; roads, trains and “flyovers”), traffic will still remain the same.
The true problem has not been properly addressed.
So, you must be saying to yourself “what a cheerful set of thoughts, Mr.
Montecillo”… I just call them as I see them. But, I’m still hopeful that
the spirit of the Filipino people will awaken and finally say “This isn’t right
and I’m not taking this anymore!!!!” I believe that the future will be bright.
It IS a brand New Year, afterall.
Here’s to hoping and wishing for a year of awakenings. Happy New Year RCMA! |
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