No speed limit
It is unfortunate that while the furor from the MMDA Chairman’s insistence of the absence of a speed limit on EDSA had hardly abated, the tragedy that befell Dr. Francisco Sarabia has punctuated Bayani Fernando’s statement with a fiery exclamation point.
But while bus drivers who think they’re in the Indianapolis 500 can be blamed on the MMDA Chairman’s reckless statement, made during the budget hearings in Congress last month, it cannot be denied that there are drivers who have been speeding and swerving on EDSA and other avenues of the city way for a long time now.
I have blogged about why I do not patronize the Jayross Lucky 7 bus lines, which is because of their drivers who do not seem to give a hoot about their passengers safety. There are other buses lately that seem to have acquired the same arrogance that the Jayross bus drivers have. Drivers who seem to think they’re driving Maserati’s instead of King-Long’s.
And as a commuter hanging on for dear life, you really cannot do much except hang on for dear life. Make a comment that the driver can hear and he will tell you that we’re all just trying to make a living, or if you don’t fancy his driving style you can just get off, or some such rejoinder. You can only wish that he will slow down the vehicle long enough at your stop for you to get off shaken but in one piece.
And so after the Sarabia tragedy, MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando now says there is a Study on Edsa speed limit now underway. Angelito Vergel de Dios, MMDA Traffic Operations Executive Director, says the Organized Bus Route System is well under way.
Must there always be a tragedy before measures are taken to ensure safety? Apparently in this society, the answer is yes.
Huli Ka! Bayani BF Fernando Exposed!
I knew there was something fishy about those banners …
In other news, Bayani Fernando’s minions strike again, at the Philcoa Wet and Dry Market along Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City, on Wednesday March 05 2008.
“We’re humans, not animals. Why are they treating us this way?” lamented stall owner Heidi Mañoza, adding that they asked (Bobby Esquivel, head of the MMDA Road Clearing Operations Group) to give them at least three days to build makeshift stalls.
She said they should not be evicted as they were renting the place from UP and they paid for business permits and local taxes.
Mañoza said the demolition affected at least 200 vendors and stall owners.
Mañoza said the MMDA did not have any court order for the demolition.
Read the full article from the Inquirer Online here.
Bayani BF Fernando is watching YOU.
Government property do not remove. Mere possession of this sign is punishable by law. MMDA.
That is the note lining the bottom edge of this enormous tarpaulin sheet that I have seen in at least three places along EDSA. The one above is on an MRT pillar adjacent to the turnoff to the Fort Bonifacio. I have seen another one on an MRT pillar at the intersection of Ortigas Avenue and EDSA, visible if you’re southbound. The third one is at another MRT Pillar in Pasay, just before hitting the Taft Avenue MRT stop.
(Update as of:
- March 4 2008, I spotted two more of these banners back to back on the pink wire Pahayagan ng MMDA at the corner of Roxas Boulevard and EDSA, on the MOA-bound side.
- March 6 2008: Another banner on the tallest MRT post at the Buendia MRT station.
- March 10 2008: Another blogger, Makoyskie, has spotted a banner at IPI Pasig, and has also posted his ideas on the subject.
- March 11 2008: Two more banners, back to back on the tallest posts on the flyover from Tramo to EDSA.
- March 13 2008: An additional banner between the one at Buendia/Edsa and EDSA to the fork going to Fort Bonifacio, making that three banners in quick succession that the motorist sees along that short stretch)
- March 19 2008: Now that I have had the chance to traverse EDSA from end to end I realize that the Bayani Fernando banners have multiplied like mushrooms after a lightning storm. There are even smaller versions of it now (what, they’ve run out of tarp?) which have been hung on the smaller posts in between the big ones.
First time I saw it was on the 25th February, during the rally by the EDSA Shrine. Bayani BF Fernando, Big Brother-like as in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four. At first I thought the gigantic poster of billboard proportions was the idea of an overzealous supporter. But the “Government property” note at the bottom edge clearly states that the money for these self-serving banners came out of taxpayers’ pockets.
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Not enough People Power
Sam’s brother Rowley was leading a small contingent of rallyists today at EDSA, so I asked Sam if I could go with them today. I was still embarrassed by the thought of being part of the enormous crowd that brought Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo into power seven years ago, and I wanted to make up for that fact by joining what will perhaps bring her back down. It was because he said “Yes” that I have these pictures here today.
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