business as usual for road engineers

strike three as i remember. the article ( please see link below) in the widely circulated philippine daily inquirer of my country resurrected traumas of many years back which make me raise my banner " ohhh, it's business as usual for the road engineers, my dears...".

strike one. i personally witnessed the transformation of katipunan avenue in quezon city. during the early seventies where we could simply cross the narrow streets to eat halo halo (literally means "mix-mix" in filipino, a favorite ice cream type of concoction just like the character/culture of most filipinos) in some small cozy ice cream parlor....or hang out in my sister's shop-cum-eatery "Sa Plato" ( meaning The Plate) where they use to serve rice and tapa and longanisa and all sorts of yummy stuff before there were such popular labels as tapsilog and longsilog. no unimaginable ugly massive pedestrian crossings in front of the then catholic maryknoll (now miriam college)...nor any in front of the jesuit-run ateneo....nor any of those concrete monsters wherever on the road. there were no pink fishbowl screen fences for pedestrians who needed to be "disciplined" because they blocked the free flow of motor traffic. these fences were set up by MMDA or metromanila development authority in the interest of the lords of the road---motor vehicles. no bold unfriendly signs of "no crossing allowed." sad to say, up to now, there are no decent sidewalks on both sides of katipunan avenue for the ordinary pedestrian..... but you can surely see fancy cars clogging the road on tmost times of the day. most of the shops on one side have nodecent parking areas for their customers and more bad news. now, its mostly the private cars of students from elite ateneo, miriam,UP plus other schools in the area clogging katipunan avenue. at the same time, the same middle class from these educational institutions are the ones very vocal and concerned by crying fowl over MMDA /DPWH cutting the trees to widen katipunan avenue for "better traffic flow." they mean fossil fuel metal boxes flow of course.

strike two. but no, the balara section of katipunan avenue in quezon city raises within me more tragic thoughts when one brings up the topic of road widening. i haven't been home for a year, i'm wondering about the state of those beautiful ( sigh) and huge century old acacia trees in front of the former MWSS, now a utilities ( water) company owned by a private corporation. these dreamy trees line both sides of the road and how can one obliterate the memories of walks under the prana of these trees for many years many years back in time? the latest i saw was only a few weeks back, a foto of the impressive fence paid for by DPWH ( the public works and highways national office) to trim a few meters of the high school compound in the area where these trees are. this place i spent the best years of my adolecscence.

so, strike three in pampanga below is just this. it's business as usual for the road engineers. as has already been said-- " the road to hell is paved with good intentions."

Tree lovers won’t take promises, hold ‘Sota’
Posted 00:08am (Mla time) (Mla time)
By Tonette Orejas
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Promises by officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways did not appease tree-loving artists and activists here. [ Read more ]