Dear Philippine Government and Private Sector,

It must be great that the economy has been booming for the past couple of years.

 

That wasn't sarcasm. In fact, I'm very happy for you.

I'm just a little skeezed that in spite of the monetary progress, we still haven't put the same amount of proactive concern into Public Transportation.

 

Each time we head out into the mean streets of Manila, we see fragmented, oblivious transportation culture.

 

Way I see it, there's nothing economical about the way people move around the city. You have renegade buses along EDSA, a hilariously over-capacity metro system, and like A BAJILLION private vehicles that at times only carry one or two people the entire day. On the basis of urban mobility alone, I only like Metro Manila one out of seven days a week. Yep, give me a wide-open Sunday road in Manila over anything else.

 

I said to myself before that it takes very little to break this city. My friend says it's broken.

 

And I agree.

 

If you're serious about moving into the 21st century with all this momentum as the darling of the South East Asian region, the both of you better get dead serious about investing in mass transportation in the capital. I mean, how long do you think this boom will last without an efficient system in place? Unless you get your shit together, it will be brief and sad.

To government:
Don't you think it's high time to consider deliberate Urban Renewal with public transportation as the main focal point? Why not work with the private sector? I'm pretty sure you can incentivize large scale transportation projects when you pitch to the larger developers?

To private sector:
Yes, you do have the green to burn. You claim to be the 'good guys' and claim that you 'appreciate earth' and all that (don't mean to name names per se) but might we convince you NOT to build another mega condominium or humongous mall before considering the impact it has on the immediate environment.

I'm not pointing fingers at you. My sincere wish is to hopefully point to our city's, our country's common goal -- a unified, efficient transportation ecosystem that the poor and the rich can share in light of all this economic development.

 

As a taxpayer, I would very much like to see the large chunk taken from my monthly salary used intelligently for the betterment of the Philippines. Why not invest in a Bus Rapid Transit System like they have in Bogota? How about looking into Metro Manila more bike friendly and more walkable?

 

I'm ranting, I know. But I'm just so tired of plowing through undisciplined, extremely over-vehicled streets. I can tell we're on the verge of an urban stroke.

 

Philippine Government and Private Sector, I'm assuming you're playing the long game.

 

WELL THEN FLIPPING ACT LIKE IT! I hope you see what ALL OF US ARE ACHING FOR and start paving the way.

Genuine love,

Joey

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Tell people about it. Not just your friends but even people you don't know -- most especially we would benefit much from telling public servants and lawmakers about it. Metro Manila traffic isn't something we should be doomed to endure.

Let's honk our horns and clamor for purposeful change.