Built to crack!

I’m hoping that by featuring the feedback from readers, officials in Malacañang and Congress will be reminded of real problems encountered by Filipinos.

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Good day sir.

Sana nga mabigyan na ng pansin ni Sec. Dizon ang problema sa mga trucks. Sila ang sumisira sa mga kalsadang hilaw ang timpla.

Dito po sa Bulacan, grabe kalalaki ang mga dump trucks na nag-qua-quarry at mga naghahakot ng semento, halos lahat na yata ng feeder roads giba pag dinaanan ng mga overloaded at oversized trucks, pati yung Balagtas-San Rafael Bypass road.

Wala talagang standard ang mga kalsada ng bansa natin, nakakaawa tayo.

Talamak na talaga ang corruption sa DPWH.

Sa laki ng SOP, kaya lahat hilaw ang gawa, yun at yun din ang kanilang ginagawa taun-taon. Kawawa yung niece ko last week, Wednesday, 6 pm from Makati, nakauwi sa Guiginto (Bulacan) ng 12 mn! Hoping na may mangyari sa isinulat nyo pong article.

Have a good day po. (R. Miranda)

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“On another subject and if you agree, can you help push for the rehabilitation of the entire MacArthur Highway from Caloocan to Bulacan, to Pampanga, to Tarlac, to Pangasinan and beyond? With what recently happened in NLEX and the traffic it has caused, there is a need for a good alternative and toll-free. The government collects a lot in road tax.”

Response: When Manny Bonoan was appointed as secretary of the DPWH, he promised to put a limit, if not put a stop, to the “Basag Kalye” gang all over the Philippines that habitually break good roads in order to repave them.

It seemed that Sec. Manny Bonoan kept his promise because I have not seen as many roads being broken. But “where there is a will there is a way.” Instead of breaking and reblocking, it looks like provincial roads are now “built to crack.”

Many provincial roads are breaking and cracking because of constant use by overloaded trucks because of the low quality of concrete roads. The DPWH’s failure to impose load limits on trucks and conduct inspection for safety standards at non-existent weigh bridges are the perfect recipe for perpetual reblocking.

The suggestion to rehabilitate the entire stretch of MacArthur Highway is just one of many requests for existing alternative old highways to be rehabilitated as well as circumferential roads to be built. Sadly, there is a “palakasan culture” that requires a district to have a senator and several congressmen lobbying DPWH for things to happen or be prioritized.

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Hi Chito. (Cito po)

Our manufacturing sector, the steel pipe manufacturing, is in dire need of government support from the proliferation of cheap steel pipes from China. I have mentioned this in my letter (attached) the reasons why.

Since we have an existing trade agreement with China on steel tariff, the only way is to compel government agencies like DPWH, PPA, DOTr, to source from local steel pipe manufacturers their steel pipe project requirements. We have the machinery, expertise and technology to produce steel pipes for government projects.

Right now, locally produced steel pipes can barely compete with China sourced steel pipe products. What we supply locally are scraps compared to pipes sourced from China. Big construction companies are profit oriented and would rather buy the cheapest complying materials for their projects.

Chito (Cito po), we need your help to bring to the attention of concerned government agencies our plight. And I am speaking on behalf of all the local steel manufacturers.

Thank you and God bless. (Joel T. Reyes)

Response: Once again, the solution lies with Malacañang and the political will of the Department of Trade and Industry. While everyone is crying foul against China in the West Philippine Sea, the government can’t even implement a “Buy Lokal” policy.

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A new cardiologist in my town wanted me to do a lot of tests; the lot – x-ray, ECG, ultrasound, more blood tests, urinalysis, 2D echo. I learned I have an enlarged heart and calcified aorta. What does one do when, at 79, I learn I am prone to heart attack? Thy will be done.

My cardio in Sydney gave me some superficial tests, nothing like what my new cardio said, she wants to know why I have an abnormal ECG.

I hope elderly people see a doctor who wants to see the root cause of problems and not just try to give medications for symptoms. I am lucky to have found a good doctor. The tests are not cheap (the way PhilHealth operates is not helpful) but it could save a lot of heartache.

I wish I had done all these tests much earlier. Initially I went to the local doctor for cough, he suggested blood tests, then went to the new cardio on a whim. My complaint was just tiring easily which I thought was normal for being old.

I’m writing this to ask if you could tell your readers to get tests if they are 65 and over. I had irregular heartbeat before I was 65 but did not get treated because my Sydney cardiologist was not thorough. The cardiologist I saw 12 years ago in Sydney charges Aus$400. My town’s new cardiologist charges P560 pesos (A$15 with senior discount). (Lily Galace)

Response: Three weeks ago, a friend much younger and in much better shape than I am had a routine check-up and found out he had three arteries that were 85 percent blocked. Get yourself checked soon.

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