History, not PGMA will judge her gov't

I would be remiss in my “Apostolic” mission if I didn’t greet my third grandchild, Janine Francesca or Baby Jenna, the third child of my daughter Dr. Frances “Fara” Angelique Avila-Tequillo and hubby Atty. Jennoh Tequillo who celebrates her first birthday today… barely two days short of Fara’s birthday. There is no doubt that our grandchildren bring the greatest joy to grandparents, not only because they are cute and so lovable, but because they give you an insight of who will left behind when we’ve gone to the great beyond. Times have indeed changed when during the days when we were grandchildren we were made only to be seen, but not heard. Nowadays we talk with our grandkids almost about anything in life that they want to learn from us, who’ve been there and done that.

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During the vin d’honeur given by outgoing Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to the Diplomatic Corps in celebration of our 112th Independence Day, the President gave an outline of her nine-year tenure as President, reciting all that had happened during her watch (of course ignoring the huge negatives that hounded her administration) like the creation of call centers and yes, my favorite, her being able to link the various islands in our country through her backbone program called “Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH). Above all, she claimed to have political stability having held the country sans any major military incursions, including the success of the automated elections.

Hmmm, perhaps she spoke too soon about the automated elections as being very successful, despite what the foreign observers’ declaration that “Elections in this country were neither honest nor credible.” But I do agree with her that she leaves with a legacy of hard work and a strong and stable economy that was able to withstand the economic turmoil in the year 2009 that infected Western economies. But to claim that the Philippines were almost on the verge of becoming a first world country is a bit far fetched.

But we shall not deny GMA her “bragging” rights to these projects like the SRNH, which not only linked the Visayan islands to either Luzon or Mindanao, but it also helped promote tourism development in the areas that would have been inaccessible. But whether she likes it or not, it is not for Pres. Arroyo to declare that her administration was a complete success, but rather, it will be history who will be kind to her or not.

The President said earlier that she shall “fade away” which she obviously took from the famous speech of the late US Gen. Douglas MacArthur that he made in West Point during his retirement. I do not believe that PGMA will fade away because she obviously has not faded from the political limelight, being elected as Congresswoman in Pampanga.

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The JD tourist bus that plunged into a ravine along the Transcentral Highway in Barangay Cansomoroy, Balamban that killed 21 passengers and injured 20 others, mostly Iranian students from the various medical schools in Cebu (the driver Jaime Bitoon was the owner of the bus and the only Filipino fatality) was an accident waiting to happen.

Time and time again, we have harped on the fact that the Transcentral Highway (built during the term of Gov. Emilio “Lito” Osmeña) remains unfinished because the Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) did not put in gabion nets to prevent landslides from happening, especially during the rainy months and did not put enough metal guard barriers, or if it had metal barriers, they were not strong enough to prevent a vehicle from going over. They were supposedly stipulated in the contract, but when the funds ran out for the project… these were no longer put in place.

I know that area well (because we often ride our big bikes on a Sunday ride to Balamban) and it is the steepest portion of the Transcentral Highway. After passing this most dangerous part of the highway, it would have been a smooth ride to Balamban. In fact my biker friends from the STAR Group were among the first to inform me of this accident, which we relayed immediately to the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation (ERUF). This area isn’t far from the main entrance to the dirt road that would lead you to Mt. Manunggal, the crash site of the late Pres. Ramon Magsaysay.

If at all there should be lessons learned from this accident, it is that major gov’t infrastructure projects especially in mountainous areas should include gabion nets for slope protection to prevent landslides from happening. Because of the lack of this device, the Transcentral Highway often gets shut down whenever there are strong rains. But above all, there should be strong guard rails to prevent an out of control vehicle from falling down into the ravine. I emphasize strong guard rails because too often, we use the same standard for guard rails even in the most dangerous areas.

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