Some bridges and some faults are being repaired but it is still a cinch driving now than before. In fact my friends in Pagadian are frequenting Zamboanga City now because what is left un-cemented in that link is less than a kilometer.
They estimated that in two months time, what used to be a highway of craters and boulders will now be one of the best roads in Mindanao. Well, whether you like it or not, you have to credit the Arroyo administration for improving the road network in Mindanao. Fine legacy for a presidency that had been the object of senate bashing.
The roads are excellent if we compare it to the standard of Aquino-FVR-Estrada regime. The only problem remaining are the road hazards that are real threat to the pockets and life of motorists. The provinces of Misamis Occidental and Agusan del Sur are hazardous areas, not because terrorists are lurking in the bushes by the roadsides but because there are just too many police, military and DENR checkpoints not to mention the "kotong cops" who prey on motorists.
I do not really mind these checkpoints if they are serving the purpose why they are there in the first place. But I think that they are just contributing to the aggravation. Firstly, many are located in blind curves. A first-timer in the area driving in a well-paved road even at a slow down speed, the driver will have a good chance of crashing right into the roadblock.
With the number of checkpoints along the way, one wonders why trucks overloaded with logs are allowed to ply the highway.
I am amazed by the number of hauling trucks loaded with timbers that jut out of the chassis and are precariously stocked twice the height of the trucks.
Their cargos are secured by rusted wire cables that are about to snap and mind you I saw this happened in one of my trips to Cagayan de Oro.
My advice, don't insist on your right if you encounter them otherwise you end up in kingdom come.
But policemen and PENDRO (these are DENR people in the province) and those ubiquitous LTO operatives are apparently oblivious to these veritable hazards that pass right under their noses. These inutile government personnel contribute to the unpopularity of the administration. No matter how good are projects, abuses and inutility denigrate the government.
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BTW, I am appalled by the number of evacuees from Compostela Valley Province who had flocked to Davao City allegedly in fear for their life.
Come on guys. This one a cheap propaganda crutches aimed at inviting media attention on the ploy that the evacuees are being harassed by the military. "Militarisasyon." It's an overused propaganda term. Why troop to Davao City? Why not just encamp or build your tents in front of the wide grounds of the Kapitolyo in Nabuturan? Inday Sara, the acting Mayor of Davao City, must take the move of transporting these "evacuees" to ComVal where Governor Chiongkee can take care of them. They are his constituents. Better still the governor must take the initiative of transporting his people back to his province so that Davao City will not be pictured in local, national, and international media as a war-torn area.
I am not averse to the idea of helping them, but I doubt the agenda why they flocked to Davao City, which is the communications center of Mindanao.
You want media mileage for your pan-handling Foundation that is out to hoodwink a donor foundation? Do your dramatics here. You see we have City Councilors who are pitifully naïve the fall prey to heart-rending drama they are even willing to convert the session hall into an criminal court. Some militant organizations are very good at that and they do it with gusto in Davao City because of our inexhaustible tolerance. Oh well!
