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Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Roxas: Order in sidewalks, a failure in Angeles
By Fred Roxas
AMONG the attributes of good governance, peace and order ranks first in the priority preferences of local residents during a random opinion survey of many communities in Central Luzon. This column has been fed info and data on this.
While the maintenance of peace is the duty of the police, its twin component - order - is the responsibility chiefly of local government officials. The success or failure of the mayor, town or city, in so far as keeping order in his/her turf is largely seen by his constituents in the local chief executive's management of principal streets in his area.
In Angeles City, while Mayor Tarzan Lazatin has been successful in streamlining the City Hall administrative machinery, with computerized operations, disciplined personnel, and cost-cutting measures as his better achievements, he has failed to bring order in the city sidewalks.
Angeles City sidewalks, principally the business center, had been invaded by illegal vendors, hawkers and traders, mostly transients/migrants from the South Muslim areas. The inability of the city government to put an end to illegal use of public property like sidewalks to the detriment of residents' welfare and safety is the chief weakness of many city officials, according to concerned residents.
Sidewalks in the poblacion area are now a virtual showcase of tiangge activities where fake merchandise from watches, DVDs, CDs, footwear, clothes, computers, cellphones and other dry goods spill out to the streets and put pedestrians to road risk, while causing congested traffic in the streets. These Muslim vendors, so-called, are tolerated by the local government, and the police as well for obvious reasons. They are a source of political support and "tong" anywhere, from Metro Manila to any point of the country, including Angeles City.
In the City of San Fernando, the eyesores are the public "trisikad," the pedaled three-wheelers that are causing traffic problems in many streets. While sidewalks are kept comparatively clean of illegal hawkers, it is the proliferation of these primitive transport vehicles that indicate the state of order in the business areas.
These enterprises, along with the pedicabs which have multiplied geometrically in recent times, are a source of political clout and "donations" too. This is true in every thriving community in Pampanga, including Guagua, Mabalacat, Apalit and Angeles City.
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Business groups in Pampanga want media to stop ranting about news and rumors of "bribes" to certain provincial board officials on the unending quarry revenue issue that occupied the newspapers lately.
Another concern of the business leaders include talks and suspicions that the Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) keeps payola money to certain public opposition officials to the reported toll rate increase. These ugly talks put our officials in bad light, they said, specially when the proof can be produced that these bribery attempts or plans are true.
However, Pampangos are keenly observing how their Vice Gov. Yeng Guiao will comport himself in the coming days in the face of these rumors. Yeng leads Provincial Board members in protesting low mineral resources income of the province. His silence on his initial complaint, or whatever stand that may betray his crusade, will be the focus of his supporters and residents.
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More on sand quarry operation issue in Pampanga, former City of San Fernando mayor and now congressman of the third district, Rey B. Aquino has initiated a move in the Lower House for a congressional inquiry on the collection of quarry fees in the province. He has explained during a recent talk with the members of the Society of Pampanga Columnists (SPC) chaired by Bong Lacson of The Voice that his concern on the "lucrative" quarry business is to look into the possibility of allocating part of the quarry fee collections, which reached to more than P150 million during the time of deposed President Estrada. The average yearly quarry fee collections during the last few years amounted to a little over P8 million.
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The recent statement of President Arroyo before Clark-based newsmen that Emmanuel Y. Angeles can stay as president of Clark Development Corp. (CDC) "as long as he wants to" has toppled at least five executives who have been ambitioning to depose Angeles. They include three incumbent CDC directors and two business executives.
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Finally, Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) at Clark Zone is undergoing full expansion and development, which will soon propel this former US military facility into becoming Asia's aerotropolis or airport center. Envisioned by President Arroyo to make DMIA the premier international airport in the country, various projects are now being undertaken in the airport complex, mainly the construction of the P2 billion-air passenger terminal and the installation of the $11 million state-of-the-art traffic control radar system.
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Authorities of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Central Luzon have been warning tricycles from traversing busy national highways. Tricycles, many of them with overloaded passengers and operating reckless on highways, have continued defying the warning without being apprehended by LTO traffic enforcers. Motorcyclists are even seen on highways without wearing the required crash helmets.
(October 5, 2004 issue)
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