Why 60 days?
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Fri, 02 Aug 2019 16:30:14 +0000
(DISCERNING readers of a certain age would call it a senior moment. But when I wrote in this space last Thursday, July 29, that China’s GDP of US$10,000 is second highest in the world, it was plainly a mistake, no excuses, no seniority issues. Ten thousand dollars is NOT China’s GDP, it’s China’s per capita income!)
Make no mistake about it, it looks like President Duterte’s order to mayors and LGUs to “reclaim all public roads” is a big deal to them, a colossal production that required a meeting with the Department of Interior and Local Government and a memo instructing them to finish the job in 60 days, or face suspension.
At first, the order was to clean up in 45 days, then like whimpering children begging for candy instead of a spanking, the mayors were given 15 more days because they needed time to address “problematic issues.” Hah, the mayors are the problem. Look at them, look at the mayor of Manila, who did it on his own and cleared Divisoria in 45 hours, without the backing of Malacañang, DILG, or PNP.
Sixty days to remove obstructions on the streets? Are those roadblocks the size of atoms and molecules that cannot be seen with the naked eye? Are they not big enough, many enough, troublesome enough? Sixty days is long enough to forget an order, or is that what the mayors need? For Secretary Año to be so busy with other things that he will forget his own memo?
I was in a town in Cavite not far from Tagaytay City at 3 p.m. last Wednesday, a regular working day. On a two-lane street, the church, market, school, stores and shops provided a lively backdrop for passing cars and pedestrians. Lively it was, but traffic was choked by the usual obstructions – illegal parking and waiting, vendors and their wares – and an unusual sight. A funeral was going on right there on the sidewalk, spilling just several inches onto the street. Under a purple overhang, a uniformed band seemed to be waiting for their conductor or sponsor or the coffin to show up. The name of the funeral parlor was prominently displayed on the tent-like contraption.
All these I observed because the traffic allowed me to. Without the car slowing down, I would’ve missed this unique, only-in-the-Philippines scenery.