Gloomy Manila

Gloomy. That's how I describe Manila today. A thick dark cloud blankets 1/3 of the sky, signalling rain. Weathermen say a storm is coming. It packs winds of up to 110 kph. It came from the direction of Vietnam and heads straight to Luzon. That's why the NDCC has been up and about since late evening.

NDCC or the National Disaster Coordinating Council is doing a great job. Deputy palace spokesman and NDCC coordinator Anthony Golez is to be praised for his excellent handling of this impending crisis. A few days ago, Tropical storm Dante swept the Bicol region killing nearly 30 Filipinos. This pro-activeness being shown by the NDCC is admirable. Advance info would definitely save more lives.

I just came from a visit to Mountain Province and Pangasinan and yes, Mrs. Arroyo should definitely consider pouring money for road re-construction there. Kennon road needs repair. Even some portions of the national highway in La Union should be fixed. These places are tourist magnets and government should prioritize these places.

And mind you, these places are showing signs of progress. There are many restaurants, shops and what-have-you springing surprises in these areas. New businesses are sprouting in all these places compared a year or so ago. New money is spilling over to the rural areas which is great.

So, it's a great disservice if government ignore citizen complaints of bad roads or the lack of it. New roads usher more business. And more business means more revenues. And more revenues leads to better government services.

Manila has its gems and wonders. Ask Carlos Celdran. He knows. Manila has enormous tourism potentials if the Manila City government would only care.

Antique houses ("bahay na bato") adorn many Manila streets, yet most, if not all, are in a dilapidated state. If Manila could only pour some more money into road projects and beautification, i'll rival other Asian cities for its splendour and beauty. Time for Manila to rise up, from being a greyish, ageing and gloomy city, into a city proud of its heritage and history. Manila is being left behind while other cities and towns all across the Luzon landscape bloom like beautiful flowers.

16 more typhoons to go

PAGASA announced that 16 more storms or typhoons are expected to hit the country this year. Now that we know, it's time for government and institutions to work together and prevent such disasters from happening. I was listening to Joel Reyes-Zobel's program over DZBB today and one of his resource persons said that his organisation have made what he called a "spatial map", that identified certain areas believed to be disaster-prone (I think it was the Greenpeace spokesman, forgot the name, was driving kasi for a meeting).

That's a good way to start.

Government should also implement an annual crisis/disaster contingency plan since we all know that it is this time of the year when we face either El Nino or La Nina or that meteorological anomaly called "Habagat." It should have been incumbent upon government to start institutionalizing measures that would save a lot of lives. Pro-activeness is the word to remember.

I also have a proposal for government---start investing in rescue and retrieval equipment. It took 4 days before a full-blown relief operation was conducted re: Sulpicio Lines tragedy.

Also, strengthen please the National Disaster Coordinating Council. Make it a full department so that its budget is not tied with the defense budget. Hey, we're hit with freak storms, earthquakes and natural calamities and it's better to prepare for them now instead of waiting for another tragedy to happen.

Malacanang should propose a bill that would make the NDCC a department instead of just being a line agency. The palace should make it as one of their priority bills when Congress opens this July.