Dear Mr. Globe,

Is that a cell site on your back? If it is, could you please hang out more often in my neighborhood? I live in Woodside Homes at the end of Hemady Street in New Manila, Quezon City.

You see, ever since Typhoon Ondoy hit our country over a year ago your signal has gone down from a full four bar to a measly one bar at best. And despite repeated calls to customer support, the signal strength has never been restored.

I hope you can accommodate me. I will even have coffee and fully loaded merienda ready for you when you come. Just drop by please.

Dear Mr. Counterfeiter,

Mang gagaya ka lang din, e sana pinagbutihan mo na. Next time, sana tama na ang spelling ha. Just do et!

Akala Ko Hindi na Puede ang "Puede Na?"

In President Aquino's inauguration speech which I personally witnessed last 30 June 2010 in the Luneta, one of the more applauded portions touched on public works.

"Mula ngayon, hindi na puwede ang “puwede na” pagdating sa mga kalye, tulay at gusali dahil magiging responsibilidad ng mga kontratista ang panatilihing nasa mabuting kalagayan ang mga proyekto nila."

"From now on, mediocre work will not be good enough when it comes to roads, bridges, and buildings because we will hold contractors responsible for maintaining their projects in good condition."

I wonder if anyone in the DPWH and the Quezon City local government was listening or even understood just what the president was saying. Or maybe they've simply just refused to follow his orders.

At roughly the same time, around the last week of June 2010, just outside our village in New Manila, Quezon City, work began on a portion of Hemady Street beginning at the corner of E. Rodriguez Ave. The job entailed replacing the asphalt with concrete and as expected took a while to finish.


By the end of August, all that remained to be done was finish the gutters and cover the manholes that of course, were destroyed by the construction. But then the workers disappeared. And never came back. It's as if the contractor was saying, "hey, we were only tasked with putting concrete on the road. We are not responsible for the gutters and manholes. Puede na yan!"

And so it remains. To this day. We have a nice concrete road but gaping and dangerous holes where gutters and manholes used to be.


Ay naku. Puede ba? Hindi yan puede!

Faces Back on Billboards

The PNoy government is barely 100 days old and already a number of local politicians have already defied guidelines imposed by the new administration. Department Order No. 37 of the Department of Public Works and Highways issued last 6 August 2010 orders that "name(s) and/or picture(s) of any personages should not appear in the billboard" of any on-going project being undertaken by the department.

Yes, the projects pictured above may not be under the DPWH. The first stands in front of the San Juan municipal cemetery along Santolan Road while the second is at the end of Tomas Morato on E. Rodriguez Avenue. I can just hear them say that they are not breaking any law since these are not covered by the department order. I can also hear them already claiming that no public funds was used for these billboards. Kapal muks talaga.

Here we go again. Politicians who make excuses by sticking to the letter of the law instead of following the spirit under which the law was made. So sad. When oh when will real change happen? When oh when will our country make an about face? For let's face it, no matter how good intentioned a leader is, we must all do our part in effecting change.