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Philippine Daily Inquirer's   " Costly traffic " Metro Manila’s traffic mess is one problem that is proving too difficult to untangle. A confluence of events since many administrations ago has led to this nightmare in the capital. Last week, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) estimated that the worsening traffic congestion in Metro Manila now costs at least P3.5 billion in lost opportunities a day — a jump from the estimated P2.4 billion a day in 2012. The future does not seem to present much promise either. According to the Jica study, Metro Manila’s population in 2015 was nearly 13 million while Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and Cavite combined had almost 11 million. That puts Mega Manila’s population in 2015 at 24 million.   [link] Mindanao Times  " Missing the point " The stir that the Boracay controversy has created has resulted in concerned agencies scampering for solutions to the garbage problem. In the Davao Region for instanc...

Philippine Star  "Untangling traffic" Emergency powers are being sought for President Duterte to speedily address the crisis that is the traffic mess in Metro Manila. Almost every day there is a reminder  of that emergency: traffic jams along most thoroughfares except Sundays and holidays, commuter trains so packed because of limited capacity and the Metro Rail  Transit breaking down, sometimes several times in one day.  These days the traffic jams have been aggravated by rutted roads as asphalt pavement again disintegrates during the rainy season. Yesterday a rutted stretch a mere  two meters long on the northbound lane of Quiapo Bridge tied up traffic from the Manila City Hall as vehicles were forced to slow down.  This problem is again becoming increasingly common throughout Metro Manila. Even as Congress deliberates on emergency powers for the President to deal with the  traffic mess, perhaps the firm hand of the Duterte administration can demand...

Philippine Star   Those who lived through that dark period in the nation’s history lament that Filipinos, particularly the youth, appear to have forgotten the struggle to end the  abuses of a despotic regime. But young Filipinos don’t have a short memory. When it comes to martial law and the struggle to end a dictatorship, the memories simply  aren’t there. Thirty years is a long time, and a generation has grown up with no personal experience of the days when people lived in fear of their own government.   Freedom, it is often said, is like air – taken for granted and missed only when it is taken away.   [full text] Mindanao Times   In the ever widening urban sprawl, the need for green spaces has taken a more urgent need no matter what real estate companies claim. We are still blessed with nature  but this cannot be sustainable if we turn a big portion of our land to buildings and other commercial complexes. For  residential areas, open sp...

L. Lastimosa in the Freeman Samtang may sukaranan ang mga pagsaway nga napamatud-an na sang pagtulon-an sa atong katiguwangan nga manguros lang ta kon kilatan, kay karon pa magkara-kara pagpangita og mga alternatibo sa trapiko nga gisugdan nang pag-ayo sa unang taytayan sa Mandaue ug Mactan, mahimong magamit ning kahigayonan di lang sa pagpahapsay sa trapiko kon di sa pagpalambo sab sa turismo. [...]  Hinaot nga ang nagkahuot nga trapiko, nagkadaghan nga basura ug nagkagrabe nga mga baha sa Metro Cebu makapakumbinser na gyod sa mga mayor sa pagpadaplin na sa ilang mga garbo ug mopaluyo na sa dinaliang panginahanglan pagtukod sa Metro Cebu Development Authority nga moduma sa kumon nilang mga interes sa trapiko, basura ug drainage.   [kinatibuk-ang lindog] Sun.Star Cebu's Carvajal "Sinulog and Politics" was a study done by USC’s (University of San Carlos) Center for Governance, Leadership and Development.  As reported (Sun.Star Cebu, Feb. 8), one major conclusion wa...

Inquirer  Grace Poe and presidential candidacy disqualification Disqualified from the presidential race by the Commission on Elections’ Second Division, Sen. Grace Poe isn’t about to throw in the towel. She is pinning her hopes on the Supreme Court, reminding the nation that her late father, Fernando Poe Jr., won his own case for Filipino citizenship in that tribunal. [...]  The Comelec ruling throwing out the senator’s candidacy rested not only on grounds of citizenship—that she is not a natural-born citizen because she was a foundling—but also on a quite unrelated fact: that by allegedly writing on her certificate of candidacy that she was a resident of the Philippines for “6 years and 6 months,” she does not fulfill the constitutional requirement of a 10-year residency for a presidential candidate. [full text] Sun.Star Cebu  on the Rule of Law and Grace Poe “Rule of law” seems to have become the forgotten principle as presidential contenders jockey for politi...