Why not coconut?

“Desperate times require desperate solutions” and in the case of our traffic nightmares in Metro Manila people are certainly desperate enough to think the unthinkable. Consider the proposal to make EDSA and C5 into one-way highways or combine them into a loop. While many people consider it a nut job idea, I am inclined to throw my hat in support of the idea IF it is physically or engineeringly feasible. For starters, the idea would “double” our road space over night, we can actually separate all commercial vehicles from private vehicles and it might actually speed up travel and save us all a lot of time and fuel. From what has come out in the news, there are real engineers who think the idea is very feasible and it is worth considering.

While we are talking about wild ideas, I am reminded of the proposal of maverick businessman Ramon Ang of San Miguel Corp. who once shared the idea that the government should consider building elevated bus terminals on top of EDSA. There would be no Right Of Way problems, there would be no need to buy properties to house the bus terminals and the elevated bus terminals would be ideally located on top of EDSA, all city buses and provincial buses can be required to load and unload above and off the ground so they will no longer cause long lines and traffic jams. This would be ideal as a PPP project at no cost to the government, investors can recoup their money through fees charged just like elevated parking garages do. One example is how provincial buses go on ramp and off ramp on the Skyway.

By the way, ever since we revived the discussion about the need to implement a color coding on city buses and jeepneys during OFF Peak hours, which turns out to be substantiated by a 2016 study, the hardline position of the MMDA to ban provincial buses suddenly went “dead air.” I don’t know if it’s just coincidence or if there is more to it, but why is the MMDA not looking into the fact that there are thousands of buses going through EDSA and twice that number in jeepneys all over Metro Manila that continue to operate even if there are only 30% of passengers available off peak?. This is a major cause of all-day traffic on EDSA and around Metro Manila. Rene Santiago, one of the country’s respected and vocal traffic experts, told us on the program AGENDA on OneNewsPh that their 2016 study already reflected the same observation. But instead the LTFRB keeps on issuing franchises instead of doing the necessary phase out of buses. The MMDA recently did operations to flag down “dilapidated buses”, but that is not the same as completely removing the franchise and registration of buses based on a phase out policy like the government does for taxis that are five years old and above.

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I was recently invited by the PHAP or Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines to be one of the moderators for their Disaster Preparedness Forum called PHARMA Handa Ka na ba? The first speaker Joan Salcedo of Phivolcs talked about exposure and risks and she also showed a video of an earthquake simulation conducted in Japan using Philippine made hollow blocks that were four inches and six inches thick.

She pointed out that we are suppose to be using six inch thick hollow blocks that are reinforced by 10 mm steel bars, but many houses or structures in the country use 4” HBCs rarely 6” and use 8mm bars. That is often the reason we find cracks in the joints of our concrete walls and posts. Something that was not taken up during the presentation was what I discovered while constructing my house in Pasig. In order to speed up construction of multi-level homes or buildings, builders use a catalyst or chemical agent that speeds up the curing time of concrete floors and beams. This saves a lot of time but if applied wrong could compromise the strength or integrity of a building. We opted to do the natural curing even if my builder protested to high heavens about the delay. Ms. Salcedo also shared that there is an online app presumable from DOST where homeowners can do their own 12 pt. assessment using the “House safe is my house”. It’s good to know that government has been evaluating many of its facilities particularly hospitals because the rule is hospitals must be the last “man” standing in case of a major earthquake or disaster.

For her part, Cristina Montalvo of Metro Drug pointed out the need to have a dedicated crisis management team and an even bigger emergency response team that will act as the first responders and carry out the directives or interventions they already know or are mandated by the crisis management team. The rule she said was first address the crisis and next step is to make sure it does not happen again or can be managed better. Unfortunately, I lost some of my notes in transit but the other two speakers one an Asec. from the Office of Civil Defense, a former military official clarified for me that uniformed personnel are not required or require a law that permits them to respond to any natural disaster to debunk the impression established during Typhoon Yolanda where uniformed personnel were unable to respond immediately due to the “politics” above them.

After the presentations PHAP conducted a focus group discussion or FGD on the talks and the emphasis or take aways for participants was the importance of continuing training, assignment of dedicated personnel as responders, a policy called SWN or Send Word Now on your status and whereabouts, set up remote facilities for business continuity and my input make sure you are physically fit so you can survive the stress of a disaster or crisis. Thanks PHAP.

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