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Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Tulabut: Poor Angeles sidewalks
By Noel G. Tulabut
WHEN will downtown Angeles City's sidewalks be passable to pedestrians?
Just as when I'm beginning to be happy with news about clearing Angeles City of illegal encroachments that cause traffic, I was literally disheartened one Saturday morning as I traversed and travailed along a busy downtown street.
News about clearing the streets remained a news item in this paper. It has not come to reality yet near and around San Nicolas market, particularly along Plaridel Street going to Republic Central Colleges. If it's happening in this part of the city, what more in other busier sections of Angeles?
The street is literally littered with ambulant vendors and their pushcarts and makeshift stalls. I have nothing against these poor brethren of ours who have to eke out a living. But they could be taken to some place where their trades should not unduly interfere with traffic and pedestrians.
That Saturday morning, I have to sweat out, walking on zig-zag manner as I had to find spots along the sidewalk that was clear of vendors. What accentuated the perspiration cum unscheduled exercise is the fact that I was pushing a wheelchair that carried a 10-year old niece.
There was one Ponkan orange vendor who not only had his pushcart near a corner but also had his product boxes, about five of them, scattered all over the sidewalk. Flabbergasted, I had to tell him to move his litter away, as we had no way to go.
You think I had it all then? Nope, not yet. That run-to encounter with the orange vendor was nothing compared to what came next.
Since the sidewalk was no way passable on a straight path even for a measly five meters, I had no choice but to traverse the road where vehicles at my back almost had to kiss my butt. Did I have a choice? How I wish there was. What was there is but a sidewalk that simply is inexistent, unusable, and inutile to serve its purpose. The only choice for me was to push my niece's wheelchair on the road itself.
What makes the experience more disgusting is the presence (read:absence) of a traffic aid and a traffic cop who were conveniently standing at a corner doing nothing! There was even a passenger jeepney parked at a corner of Plaridel Street (presumably en route to Magalang or Pandan) whose driver was taking his own sweet time honking and waiting for passengers to take his trip. Whew, whatever happened to law and order in this part of the City, huh?
This incident reminds me of a joke cum column title that we often crack among members of Pampanga Press Club when we talk about traffic in the city. It goes "Angeles City, where each sign (i.e. no parking, loading, unloading) is just a suggestion."
I'm very sure that Angeles City Mayor Carmelo Lazatin and city police director Senior Supt. Jimmy Restua have had standing orders issued to their men to clear the streets of anything that cause traffic jams. That's what the newspapers say so. And I believe it.
But those orders have to cascade and be enforced fully down to the last men in the field. So far, it has not gone that way. Sadly. Unfortunately.
(January 19, 2005 issue)
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