Pedestrian

More than two years after it was constructed in time for the 2004 elections, the pedestrian overpass in Commonwealth corner Tandang Sora Avenues, was finally finished sometime last month.

Surprisingly, unlike usual government projects, no billboard plastered with a politician's face is proudly claiming credit for the long-overdue project. So knowing how much it actually cost will be daunting...

The project is a blight in the eye no matter what perspective you look at it; it has added to the aesthetic degradation of the area - I still remember seeing the mountains of Bulacan upon the descent from the INC area into the intersection - I was already traversing the highway in the early 80's when I lived with my grandmother in Fairview and went to school in Pasay City.

I've been living in the area for ten years now eversince I was employed in a tv network in the area. I've been witness since then to the area's metamorphosis from being ugly to now being very ugly...

Aside for marring the horizon, the pedestrian project's steel structure is flawed in every aspect. The ladder from the Old Balara side, which is on the right side going to Fairview from Philcoa, was constructed in front of the KFC entrance and runs directly into power and phone lines. The lines even cut the center aisle while other wires dangle just beside the railings. On the Culiat side, two transformers dangle right beside the railings too.


What is even worse, the ladder for the Culiat side, the one beside the 7-11 branch which is also constructed in front of another foodmart, goes down precariously to a narrow step just beside a deep trench that is a driveway of a private property.

When I took these pictures, the whole pedestrian overpass was very slippery because puddles of water were collecting all over the elevated walkway since the whole project has simply no roof. You have to build a project like this, you have to complete it as it is only logical to do so.

But then again, that may be too much of a stretch for the honorable politician who sponsored the project. Considering how long it took to get done, most of the funds would have been used up then, leaving insufficient money for building the roof as well as the proper ladder landings for the pedestrians.

It only goes to show how the MMDA gives importance to the plight of Filipino pedestrians. Surprisingly, the MMDA has expended more time, money and effort for the hideous wire fences along portions of Commonwealth and Tandang Sora Avenues, rather than completing or putting finishing touches to the equally hideous pedestrian overpass.

I admit though that using it beats having to play the deadly dodge game everyday with the murderous buses and jeepneys who ply the busy intersection. But a host of accidents waiting to happen also awaits the hapless pedestrian who uses the pedestrian overpass.

I can only shake my head in disbelief at the turn of events in this area I've called my home for the last ten years, ever since I got employed in Broadcast City.

In the past decade, I've seen the area go through countless changes in terms of road-related projects. This area is a politician's paradise - I've lost count how many times the pedestrian islands here have been shaped and reshaped (now they're all gone) and how the narrow two-lane avenue connecting Tandang Sora up until Katipunan Avenue has been dug up and reworked etc...

But the typical pedestrian's basic needs here are not even met. Sidewalks are barely navigable; what's left are eaten up as parking space by waiting tricycles or are obstructed by unscrupulous homeowners or business establishments. There are no decent waiting sheds; pedestrians waiting for transport on either side of Commonwealth Avenue or Tandang Sora get soaked especially during bad weather. As Tandang Sora Avenue is a conduit to C5 via Katipunan Avenue, deadly trucks lord over the narrow street posing a danger to pedestrians here (many have met gruesome accidents here courtesy of these killer trucks).

The glaring lack of the government's attention to these little details only mean the welfare of pedestrians are not important to those running the country. Just imagine that this situation is replicated in varying degrees in countless other intersections all over the country. Until when do we hapless pedestrians suffer from this cursed fate only time can tell. Such is our lot for being proletariats in this banana republic earning third world rates with first world aspirations.

Bruno and Me

If you happen to be at the Manila Diamond Hotel, check out on Bruno at the front lobby security area. He is one of the hotel’s resident K9 and while he looks menacing, he is as tame as, well, a pet dog. Just make sure to ask his handler’s permission first before petting him.

I didn’t have much time to dig into Bruno’s past or circumstances when I met him that May 1 night last summer. I was in a party mode that night, being at the hotel to take part in the ceremony that changed the name of the Konrad Adenauer Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University, into the Konrad Adenauer ASIAN Center for Journalism.

It was just after the ceremony when my group of ACFJ Fellows were about to step out the hotel to cross Roxas Boulevard over to the Baywalk that I spotted Bruno. I couldn’t resist petting the forlorn looking animal, who looked tired and plain sad. I wondered then how long he had been working already that day as it was close to 9 o’clock when I saw him. Do dogs have minimum hours too when they work? Are they fed and rested well enough too? I wonder what PAWS would say on these matters, which struck me as thoroughly very First World concerns.

At any rate, it seemed a topic worthy of a story someday. At least me and Bruno had a picture as souvenir. What a pair of handsome fellows don't you agree?

Back for good

I'm back to blogging here, which was where I started maintaining one since early last year. I've since experimented with other sites but the first proved to be more effective because it was the simplest. So I've turn full circle and come back to Blogger.

But I will still maintain my paid site, www.jalwynalburo.com , which I'll try to develop into a more professional blog. I have another, which is more multimedia in nature - www.jalwynsjournal.multiply.com.

I'll be uploading posts I've made offline and never uploaded yet in my other blogs. For the a long time, I've had this writer's block which kept me from active blogging. But I've already ran out of excuses not to do this anymore. As my tagline says it, I simply "live to write (and) write to live."
I'm particularly proud of the flickr badge which I was able to make, finally, with some help from TPP (thanks Tina)! By the way, almost all of the pictures there were taken from my new toy, the just awesome W810i Walkman Phone from Sony Ericcson; however, it is still at the shop these days (more on this in another post) :(

So much to say, so little time... At any rate, its good to be back.

Of phobias and deadlines

I'm scrambling to beat a deadline in my Master's class which is looming fast and nothing scares me most than not making it. I don't know if it's already a phobia but however allergic I am to deadlines I strangely thrive on them. Someone even called me the King of Photo Finish.

Well not anymore (I hope) because it's really scary to beat deadlines. And that's what I'm doing today, now, this minute - finishing the finals paper for our media law class due midnight tomorrow. Attending to my blog is relaxing me a bit, albeit momentarily. Trix, I hope you are doing fine as we beat our deadline (hoping too that our other classmates are doing fine as well). After tomorrow, we can hopefully move on with other, equally important matters in life, like love and blogging, among other things...

Meanwhile, here is a different phobia - blogophobia that is. Here's a list of companies and organizations who are allergic to blogs and bloggers... I hope your company and mine will not make it here, now and forever.

A job to die for

I'm not normally an envious person. But reading an AFP news report this morning nearly made me die in envy. Someone has a job to die for and it's not mine aaarrrggghh.
Check out this url about veteran war correspondent Kevin Sites and how Yahoo got him to report and churn out video, audio and daily blog entries on what Yahoo says are "the world's most important, yet under-reported" stories to a website called "Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone" that it will launch on September 26, 2005. Simply put, Kevin will report on every single armed conflict in the planet. Now isn't that a job that can literally get you killed? But what the heck, Kevin epitomizes the kind of people that I admire - people who like to live on the edge... Why not? After all, I live in one of the places tagged by Yahoo and Kevin as among the world's hot spots - The Philippines.
Kevin is a veteran and multi-awarded multimedia journalist; he also maintains a personal blog about his journalistic exploits.
What Kevin and Yahoo will do will definitely change the way we cover the news in the future. Kevin is a SoJo - a solo journalist equipped with the latest technology to deliver the news anytime, anywhere. This is definitely a far cry from the bulky news teams we have now where ego-tripping reporters think they are the story and where they work with underpaid but overworked news crew. I only wish I would experience what Kevin Sites is experiencing now, in this lifetime.

The Best Thing

What's the best thing that happened to you lately?
For me, bar none, was going back to school after I was accepted as one of the nine new fellows of the Ateneo's Center for Journalism MA in Journalism program this school year.
The program is something like 70 percent online learning and 30 percent on-campus. We started the online classes last June 14 and it was some experience. But the bext thing yet happened on August 8. On that rainy Monday morning, I finally came face to face with my classmates when we took part in the on-campus component of our masters' class, in Ateneo's SocSci building. Imagine putting a face to the name I only encountered online (although I already met my batch days earlier on August 5; we had our orientation and entrance examination that rainy Saturday). This was the special part of the whole experience - meeting my classmates majority of whom are practicing journalists in the country as well as from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Burma/Thailand.
What followed was two weeks of tough classroom sessions, hurdling through thick readings, doing assignments and group reports and bonding with classmates after class.
The close of the campus sessions was tough - it was hard to part ways with people that I felt I've known for a long time. After taking a two week leave for the campus sessions, I return to work feeling reinvigorated yet sad after the whole experience. Here is a link courtesy of my classmate from Singapore - Trix, to some pictures she took of our classmates and class. Also, here is another link to another classmate's site - Chingbee's . These photos are but only a few of those taken of the wonderful people that I had for company. Look them all up and see what a wonderful time we all had. (Attending to school matters was what also took my time away from blogging that's why it's only now that I'm able to post again here).

Plastic in my Paradise

I will always treasure the memories from my 1 week research, location hunt and shoot for child crewmembers of muro ami ships in Palawan's Calamianes Group of Islands in August 2003.
My cameraman, assistant and I stayed at the edge of paradise - Divelink in Uson Island, 5 minutes off Coron town in Busuanga (the group's main/biggest island).
We met and made a lot of good friends there; the biggest bonus was undoubtedly when we explored the many islands of the group - all white sand, ringed with corals and crystal-clear water, mostly deserted, teeming with underwater life and all blessed with clear sunny skies (except when it rained which it did a lot).
I was always in my boardshorts and sandals, my wallet and cellphone in an aquapak and my snorkel set ready everytime we traveled to the islands, in search of our elusive subjects. Everytime we docked to any island (and after checking out for our elusive subjects), I would then dive and swim to my heart's content, until I'm exhausted or until when we have to eat...
Food would always be the fresh catch from the sea (but cooked earlier); and whether it was prepared/cooked by Divelink or Ate Carol, it was always a simple but satisfying feast (I gained weight during that shoot).
We encountered sharks, hostile islanders, sunken ships and a twister. We attended a debut by the beach, ate grilled fresh oysters on our banca and enjoyed unlimited rum cokes and videoke... (too bad all my pictures were destroyed in my camera phone - I would blog about that useless K700i next time). We only found some ex-muro ami crewmembers but none of them were minors; the episode was eventually shelved and we moved on to another topic. Still, I found paradise and was happy enough.
About the only downer in finding paradise was encountering plastic in it. I saw it when I was snorkeling, in the powder-white beaches of secluded islands and in the waterways in and around the islands. And I thought, Palawan is the last frontier of the country (I was hoping plastic would have spared it but then this was a naive thought)...
What triggered these wonderful memories was when I read this enviromental blog on the successful imposition of the tax system of plastic bags in Ireland.
I hope this will be adopted soon too in my country before it's too late for the environment here, especially in paradise.