'Anything' could happen in women's urinals - Fernando

MANILA, Philippines - Vice presidential candidate Bayani Fernando slammed yesterday a plan by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to put up covered women’s urinals along major roads in the metropolis.

“People can do anything inside the covered urinals,” Fernando, a former MMDA chairman, said at the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Hotel media forum.

Instead, he said, the MMDA should put up more standard toilets for women.

“We have so many of these…but the problem is we cannot maintain them,” Fernando said.

However, he said the MMDA must find a suitable design for women’s urinals, adding that Sweden is the only country that has installed urinals for women.

Earlier, MMDA general manager Robert Nacianceno said putting up covered public urinals for women is among the proposed projects of the agency this year.

He said the MMDA will allocate funding to maintain the women’s urinals, the first of which will be installed underneath footbridges constructed by the agency.  

The pink urinals, a number of which were installed along busy thoroughfares and other areas in the metropolis during Fernando’s term, are meant to discourage men from taking a leak against the walls.

The use of the urinals is free of charge, though they have become the subject of criticism – the urinals have become smelly due to lack of maintenance.