Inside Philippine politics & beyond

Commuters suffer

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Mobility 

by Alan C. Robles

If only somebody could arrange for famed boxer Manny Pacquiao to fight a world championship bout everyday. Or if only Good Friday could be made to happen every week. Then Metro Manila’s traffic problems would be solved, with streets empty because people would either be indoors watching the fight, or out of town on holiday.

Absurd as they are, these “solutions” seem more likely to happen than the actual remedy that experts have long sought: an integrated, unified approach to traffic management free of local government politics. Thanks to those very politics, that vision has remained unrealised for decades.

Yves Gonzalez, head of the Traffic Discipline Office of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) puts it this way: “Metro Manila has a population of 12 million at night and 15 million in the daytime, so there’s a migration of about three million persons. All of them have to use the roads.” And so do millions who commute within the city.

According to Gonzalez, vehicular speed may drop to five kilometres per hour during rush hours on the main artery Epifanio de los Santos Avenue or EDSA for short. A grinding commute to work in the summer heat, aboard a packed bus crawling through fuel exhaust, is certainly not one of Manila’s most enchanting experiences.

The MMDA reports that “major roads are no longer sufficient to accommodate the rapidly rising traffic volume”. The situation is made worse by outmoded traffic signals, poor road conditions and a lack of efficient public transport. A mere accident on an important intersection is likely to paralyse many streets for hours.

The national government estimates that Manila’s traffic congestion annually costs the equivalent of € 2.3 billion in lost productivity, illness, wasted fuel and vehicle maintenance. The burden falls on those who can least afford it. A World Bank report noted that “pedestrians and commuters from lower income groups account for 75 % of all trips in Metro Manila”.

Traffic is not a new problem in Manila. In a novel he wrote in 1887, national hero Jose Rizal described the crush of horse-drawn carriages in the narrow streets of the small Spanish colonial capital. By 1922, under colonial rule by the USA, the city already had 10,000 automobiles and 6,000 horse carts, and it became necessary to set up a traffic division with 97 police officers.

The colonial town has since become Metro Manila, a giant sprawl of 16 cities and one municipality. But while the metropolis has expanded, its roads have not kept pace with the increasing load.

According to the MMDA, 1.9 million vehicles were registered in Metro Manila, almost 15% more than in 2008. Today, the MMDA’s Traffic Discipline Office relies on 1,400 traffic enforcement staff. Its funds are limited. This year it can spend a mere 1.2 billion Pesos (€ 20 million), only 20% more than in 1995.

The MMDA is increasingly relying on information and communication technology (ICT). It set up a Twitter account in 2010, which currently has 180,000 followers. It also started offering downloadable traffic apps for mobile devices last year and recently partnered with a radio station to air live traffic updates. It also uses street cameras, laser speed guns and digital display boards on EDSA. The goal is to make traffic itself smarter. Gonzalez says: “One of the biggest causes of jams is lack of information.” If people do not know there was an accident in a certain place, they keep driving there, adding to the problem. Intelligent traffic management, however, is no adequate response to the underlying problem of too much traffic on inadequate infrastructure.

Four crucial issues

Efforts to arrive at long-term, lasting solutions have always ended up looking like the traffic itself – gridlocked in a tangled mess. There are four core problems:

  • the disorganised polity,
  • the indiscipline of many people,
  • rampant corruption and
  • the lack of good public transport.

Metro Manila’s 17 local government units are touchy about their rights. Moreover, they are not the only bodies with a say in traffic matters (see box below). A study prepared for the University of the Philippines states: “The road development programme is still not linked to any particular land use scheme.”

The solution would be to set up an authority over the entire agglomeration, but this issue is politically sensitive. The leader of this authority would be extremely powerful, perhaps second only to the national president. It does not help that Metro Manila once had a governor – she was Imelda Marcos, the wife of dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The family plundered the archipelago and is not held in fond memory.

Motorists’ discipline is poor. It does not take foreigners in Manila long to notice that Filipinos tend to consider traffic laws optional, not mandatory. People load, unload and park their cars and trucks pretty much anywhere they please. They disregard traffic signals and sometimes cruise down the wrong side of streets. Motorcyclists often drive on sidewalks. The relaxed attitude to laws is not restricted to drivers – commuters unhesitatingly flag down public vehicles in the middle of the street, while pedestrians are prone to dash randomly across busy avenues.

MMDA official Gonzalez says the issue can be addressed by enforcement and education, but he is not contemplating fast change: “The target should be the youth; they’re the ones who haven’t yet acquired bad habits.” The MMDA will therefore soon start an awareness campaign, including the use of “entertaining” videos on YouTube and in the DVD format.

The impact of bribes

The problem of corruption is probably even more pervasive than indiscipline. Paying bribes is very common. There are probably very few Filipino drivers who have not paid off a traffic policeman at one time or another. It will take generations to address this issue, but Gonzalez says a promising start would be to pay traffic enforcers decent wages so that they’ll have less incentive to accept bribes.

Corruption compounds Manila’s traffic problems in another important way. Gonzalez says that “a bus operator with a franchise for 30 buses is actually likely to operate up to 45 buses”, and will get away with it by “bribing the right people”. The MMDA official estimates that a “surplus” of 30 to 40 % must be added to the 200,000 officially registered public utility vehicles that ply Metro Manila’s streets. To tackle this challenge, the MMDA will soon require public buses to use RFID (radio frequency identification) chips that can be monitored via GPS and linked to a programme that will expose rogue buses.

While the city’s streets are blanketed by registered and unregistered buses, the fabled jeepneys (diesel-powered vans patterned after the US military vehicle) and motorised tricycles, that coverage does not result in efficiency, but in chaos and discomfort. The vehicles are cramped, many are old and seem to be falling apart. Tail pipes emit clouds of fuel exhaust.

Things could be different, as Gonzalez knows only too well. He says: “In Singapore you can get anywhere using public transport, it doesn’t matter if you’re a labourer or a lawyer, you can use public transportation, it’s efficient and it’s comfortable.” Manila has an elevated light and medium train system which is a boon to commuters, but the network coverage is inadequate, the trains are always packed full, their number insufficient to handle the volume of passengers.

Faced with these unpalatable public transport options, many residents can’t be blamed for aspiring to buy their own cars. According to Gonzalez, “everyone wants to get out of the public transport situation”. This observation is borne out by a 2007 paper published in the Journal of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies. According to the study, the first transport preference of Manila commuters is the car, and if they have to take public transport, they prefer the train. The study observes: “It is important for the government to focus its attention to the provision of more mass transport system in Metro Manila.”

Gonzalez agrees. He says: “We need to raise public transportation to a level such that people can actually choose it as a viable alternative.” Otherwise, he warns, Filipinos will just keep on buying cars “even if they have no place to park it, or don’t know how to drive it”. Every new vehicle, of course, adds to the traffic volume.

Without coordination and planning, the city faces the prospect of slowly choking on an increasing volume of vehicles jammed down an inadequate number of streets, and MMDA’s current efforts will be a rearguard battle at best.

[This article first appeared in D+C, the monthly publication funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. My thanks to them for allowing me to publish this on my site.  Yves Gonzalez was still with MMDA at the time of the interview. ]

 

Comments

  1. i HAVE VERY OLD EYES both operated on. There was a wealth of
    numbers, figures or statistics IN THE ARTICLE ABOVE
    which altogether in their relevance
    and salience make commuters suffer. Very thorough and scholarly
    no doubt. But my eyes seemed to have miss the “physicality” of the
    cause of the suffering like:

    Total Number of cars according to type of model owned and
    garage in Metro Manila 2012 and 2013;
    Total Number of other vehicles eg. trucks according to
    types (eg ten wheelers) in Metro Manila in 2012 and 2013

    From outside Metro Manila:

    What statistics do they have in the peso sinkholes like
    SLEX and NLEX and SKYWAY?

    iN 24 HOURS how many vehicles northward and southward
    uses EDSA?

    FORGET AND FORGIVE THAT i WROTE THE ABOVE IF
    MY VERY OLD EYES MISSED THIS DNA OF COMMUTERS
    SUFFERING.

      • Thanks Leona, BUT it could be something like this:

        Govt Prosecutor (me): Your honor, I move for the dismissal of the
        the case. THERE IS NO MURDER WEAPON. THE GUNS HAVE
        NOT BEEN PRESENTED TO THIS COURT, YOUR HONOR.

        JUDGE (author of the piece): Where have you been Counselor? Can’t
        you smell rigor mortis or see the cadavers strewn all over the place?
        Shut up, Counselor or you will have the contempt of this Court.

        how is that for the imagination and logic of a non-lawyer? heh, heh,

        • um, a student lawyer on work experience stood up and said, excuse me, your honor, excellency, immenence, or whatever I’m supposed to call you, but those cadavers you speak, please look again kindly. I think, they’re blow-up dolls!

  2. MALAYO NA DAPAT ILAGAY SA MAY UNAHAN.

    Am i thinking something unrealistic, unfeasible for the CPMers to adopt
    very particular doable solutions to any problem discussED and analyzed by
    Ms. Raissa Here and CPMers : FOR EXAMPLE:

    Bureau of Customs Corruption:

    Badger the sleeping authorities no end:
    GO AFTER THE CULPRITS, SUE AND JAIL THEM
    GO AFTER THEIR PROTECTORS SHAME THEM, EXPOSE THEM TO REDICULE

    the Traffic Problem

    ADOPT THE MASS TRANSIT SYSTEM
    CONSTRUCT CITY BOUNDARIES TERMINALS
    CITIES TO HAVE CONFINED INTRACITY TRANSPORT SYSTEM
    PROVINCES TO HAVE INTRAPROVINCE TRANSPORT SYSTEM
    MAKE THESE CHANGES TO STIMULATE LOCAL ECONOMY
    AND JOB CREATION

    PORK BARREL PLUNDER

    GET THE LIST AND PICTURES OF
    ALL CONGRESSMAN AND SENATORS
    INVOLVED IN THE SCAM. PUBLISH
    THEIR PICTURES HERE. ACCUSE THEM
    OF NOTHING JUST PUBLISH THE AMOUNTS
    THEIR PORKS HAD CONTRIBUTED TO
    THE PROJECTS.
    LET THEM WRITE HERE THEIR EXPLANATIONS.

      • thanks moonie but I also like the sense of
        humor of Damian Soto like this:

        Ang Bureau of Customs, mga blackheads yan
        na tinubuan ng mukha, kahit anong hilamos
        o pahid ng facial vanishing cream tulad ng Olay
        o kaya’y Anusol hindi mawawala
        yang mga blackheads na yan.
        Dapat ipa DERMA na yan mga yan
        sunugin kahit hindi makinis at bako-bako
        ang resulta hindi mabaho at mlinis naman.

  3. OFF-Topic.

    Pasensiya na.

    But its a national or federal election dito sa ilalim (Down Under).

    Filipino – Australian, Father and Son (father Jess and son Jaymes Diaz) are into State (Local Council) and National politics.

    Excerpt:

    Jaymes Diaz and his father Jess, a Blacktown councillor, are migration agents and influential members of the large Filipino community in the area (e.g. Greenway, Blacktown, Seven Hills, Toongabbie and Kellyville Ridge.).

    Blacktown NSW is the largest concentration of filipino migrants and residents in Australia.

    For the complete story, read the SMH news ‘Liberal candidate’s meltdown no surprise to Tony Abbott‘.

    In this news ‘ambush’ interview, medyo unprepared si younger J Diaz.

    • lol!

      hah haa, nakalusot ang comment.?!

      for the past week or more, puro Denial of Service. ultimong comment bumabalik. hindi lumalampas kada pitik sa ‘Submit’ button.

  4. Justice Abad is basing his argument on these pamphlets:

    a. Combining Pseudo-science, Jurisprudence and Kris Aquino – a joint publication of the SC and the CBCP

    b. The Art of Multi-tasking: How to be a Bishop,a doctor and a Justice at the same time – jointly funded by the SC and the Opus Dei

    • It would have been funny but for the consequences which is tragic for poor Filipinos wallowing in poverty. One does not know whether to laugh, cry or puke. Those justices’
      argument speak to their quality of justice and mercy. The judgment over the RH law must solely be based on whether it is in accord with the constitution. Nothing to do with religious beliefs or those discredited pseudo-science. The constitution does not compel us to follow certain religion nor is there one national exclusive religion. Those priests and bishops are still stuck in the middle age while their pontifical head is trying his best to bring the Catholic church into the twenty first century.

      • a lot of pinoys know that justice abad is out of his depth, babbling. they’re just too kind and respectful, and too peaceful to contradict him. they might listen to him, but does that not mean they believe a word of what he said. nice to see him make all that effort though, see him work his butt out – and all for nothing.

        • @moonie…J. Abad is disregarding the voting of the people via their lawmakers that approved the bill into law. He might prefer to ‘legislate’ this RH Law into nullity! He just cannot do that with ‘opinions’ of his, not even credible evidence!

          The courts are not allowed to ‘legislate’.

        • he’s playing devil’s advocate and is testing the resolve of the rh law. that’s what I think. deep down, justice abad knows his limitations. right now, he’s having a ball, happy to see people lose their cool around him, and lapping it all up. no, I really dont think he will go so far as nullifying the rh law. he knew the consequences and what will happen to him and his career if he do that.

        • @ Moonie,

          Tama ka Moonie, Nakikinig lang mga kasamahang justices ni Abad sa supreme court pero hindi lang nito alam unti unti na itong nalalantad katulad nang ginawa noon ni convicted thief justice nato corona at biruin mo nanghihiram lang noong 2001 sa BGIE nang 10 million na walang papeles at interest kahit hindi totoo at noong impeachment trial ay isiniwalat/inilahad ang sariling million dollars bank deposits at mahigit 80 million pesos bank deposits kasama mga mamahaling ari arian at hindi idinitalye/maipaliwanag kong saan galing pero alam nang mga senadores na ito ay galing sa nakaw… Ha ha ha doon nabuking si nato corona? Amen…KARMA ang tawag dito? Kaya sa mga may gustong magnakaw mag isip isip kayo kasi walang gawain masama na hindi nagbabayad maging sino ka man… Amen….

  5. Multiple choice:

    Roberto Abad is a

    a. Medical doctor
    b. Bishop in the CBCP
    c. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
    d. social commentator
    e. conspiracy theorist

    See the quality of our Supreme Court? Multi-taskers! LOL

        • which of the below then:
          a) sus scropa
          b) pedilculus capitis
          c) ratus ratus linneaus
          d) bus philippenensis
          e) bufo marinus

          my guess a) or c)

        • ang sipag ni Mang Juan Kariton, ipinarada ang
          kariton ng gulay pinitik-pitik ang kanyang
          cellphone para tignan ang mga sc names
          heto daw ang lumabas sa google:

          a) pig o baboy
          b) kuto
          c) daga
          d) kalabaw
          e) palakang hapon

          tanong ni Mang Juan bakit daw hindi isinama

          f) buwaya o bayawak
          g) paniki o pawikan
          h) mga zombie may dugo sa bibig

    • andrew, may I add f, for justice scorned? g. for show of as wellf? justice abad is trying to convince people how he is not ignoramus like them, how well read he is, how good at assimilalting info he is, how he should have been chief justice instead of serreno. he must have been deeply hurt and wants to hurt people in return. thrashing out and making the rh law bad.

  7. “If you want an impartial opinion on which TV station is the best, would you go to Kris Aquino from ABS-CBN?”- Justice Abad, questioning the impartiality of the WHO on contraceptives

    My answer: ” If you want an impartial judgment based on legal wisdom on the RH law, would you go to Justice Abad the lay Catholic cathecist?”

    • kris aquino’s program is easier to acess, all you have to do is switch on your t.v. to the right channel.

      whereas with justice abad, you’ll be lucky to get appointment with him, or make one, and you need lot of money as outlay in fees and filing charges, etc. you might even be frisked being entering his chamber.

  8. Why is Justice Abad offering his opinions, not facts, then expects the SolGen to agree with him?

    • ans, justice abad is a peddler. soon he will be asking that everyone to have virgin birth.

  9. I think Abad is making the best argument for abortion – not of humans, but of sober, rational thought. LOL

  10. Based on Justice Abad’s ideologically biased questioning, I do not know if he can function as an impartial judge. He is using terms such as “contraceptive mentality” which is used by the anti-RH camp.

    Is Abad trying to portray himself as smarter than the WHO, Congress, DOH, WHO, UN combined? Or is it the weekend cathecist in Abad (which he is in real life) that is showing?

  11. ONGOING RH LAW ORALS AT THE SC

    My comments on the live blogging:

    Abad is interpellating SolGen Jardeleza. I do not know if Abad is a justice or a bishop. :) LOL

    • Even high school students who study Philippine Government
      Will know that Justices of the Supreme Court take the solemn oath
      To render justice in accordance WITH NO OTHER BASIS OR REASON
      But the CONSTITUTION.

      A SC Justice swore to know and understand the Constitution as
      The main instrument of justice; NOT even the Ten Commandments
      Of any religion, Ethics or Philosophy or teachings in the Bible.
      If these are enshrined In the constitution, well and good.
      If not, these are irrelevant toThe determination of justice.
      The constitution defines what is right
      And what is wrong. The SC Justices refines and quantized these
      as delimited by the provisions of the constitution.

      The SC Justice role is not to make laws or rules of conduct; his
      Role likewise is not to execute or implement the law ; to do that
      Defiles the oath he has taken.

      • this must be justice abad’s way of getting back at the supreme court and everyone. he had wanted the job that went to justice serreno. now, he’s trying to destroy long held belief that the supreme court is impartial. to serve them right for not choosing him over serreno.

      • @Alizarin…”But the CONSTITUTION”…what & where is this stated?

        SEC. 2. The Congress shall have the power to define, PRESCRIBE, and apportion the jurisdiction of the various courts but may not deprive the Supreme Court of its jurisdiction OVER CASES ENUMERATED IN SECTION 5 HEREOF. [ caps supplied by yours truly]

        SECTION 5.
        xxx
        (2) Review, revise, REVERSE, MODIFY, or AFFIRM ON APPEAL or CERTIORARI as the law or the Rules of Court may provide, FINAL JUDGMENTS AND ORDERS OF LOWER COURTS xxx.

        …All cases in which the constitutionality or validity of any xxx law xxx in question.

        Question: Is there a final judgment or order of lower courts on the constitutionality of the RH Law?

        Answer: None.

        Even in CERTIORARI aspect, still a lower court final judgment or order is a precedent under SECTIONS 2 and 5 above.

        These are the constitutional TWO (2) provisions to say if a law is constitutional or not.

        The argument before that some provisions in our Constitution are redundancy if immaterial. Is there a final judgment or order by any lower court that the SC can “review, revise, modify, or affirm ON APPEAL or CERTIORARI xxx the RH Law by reason of a ‘judgment or order OF A LOWER COURT?

        Answer: Again, NONE on the RH Law matter.

        There having been no lower court judgment or order made, the PETITION filed by the anti-RH Law should then have been dismissed outright for and under the SECTIONS 2 AND 5 of the Constitution.

        • Further, SECTIONS 2 and 5 of the Constitution “requires” that some lower court judgment or order was made for the SC to take up to review, etc.

          To go ‘directly’ before the SC without awaiting a case, judgment or order, from a lower court makes SECTIONS 2 and 5 inutile…useless at that. The is the normal and proper action for high courts to do. In the Federal USA Supreme Court, the practice is have a judgment or order from a lower federal court before going up to the federal Sup. Court. At the lower courts, facts and law can be taken up for review, etc. at the highest court.

          Since the RH Law was not passed or taken up by a lower court, ONLY THE LAW and NO FACT or evidence were presented/taken up, but this does not excuse following SECTIONS 2 and 5. And yet some justices or even petitioners against the RH Law are ‘presenting’ opinions [which they want to be FACTS] which procedure is very inappropriate as far as SECTIONS 2 and 5 and the RULES OF COURT are concerned.

          A procedure of “short-cutting’ issue like this is not in accordance with the Constitution. It makes inutile the provisions given in the fundamental law.

          @Alizarin – tama ka. I agree. Justice Abad and maybe some others do not, but not all of the SC justices may agree with J. Abad.

        • Maybe, LASTLY, even by “certiorari” it does not mean “directly” to the Sup. Court. Still a judgment or order from/by a lower court is necessary. If this ‘short-cutting’ has been “an old court practice” before and now, I believe it is utterly in contravention with SECTIONS 2 and 5 of the Constitution.

          Congress has expressly and clearly stated SECTION 2…the power to define, prescribe the Supreme Court’s duty as stated in SECTION 5 (sub-Sec. 2) …”final judgments and orders of lower courts” …in re: to (a) – “all cases in which the constitutionality or validity of any xxx law xxx.”

          I close at this time. Thanks @Alizarin.

        • WOW, I raised my right hand in salute to the
          the patience of one who labor to give details.

        • Btw, the concerned article in the Constitution is ARTICLE VIII…1987 Constitution. My fault if anyone was kept in the dark. Sorry.

        • @ leona,

          Tama ka sa sinabi mo leona, Pero alam mo ba kong bakit doon sila dumiretso kaagad sa supreme court nang maipasa ang R.H. Law at pinirmahan ni Pnoy nang hindi nila nalalaman dahil sa aking palagay ay doon sa supreme court ay marami pa silang natitirang TUTAng justices katulad nang isang very very BAD na akala mo ay abogado nang C.B.C.P., Dapat sana naging patas ang isang very bad na ito… Matanda na kasi kaya medyo ulyanin na at hindi alam ang katayuan at ang kalalagyan na dapat walang kinikilingan…

        • ha, ha, jorge, tahol yan ng tahol pero hindi kakagat. dahil alam niya na kung kakagat siya, ay babalikan siya at baka matanggalan pa ng ngipin.

  12. I don’t know under which of the four issues my comment would fall, but to state it simply, the LTFRB must be out of control in issuing permits to passenger vehicles assuming they have permits to operate, not only in metro manila but all over the country’s major populated areas, because at some point of the day, there are more passenger vehicles on the road than there are passengers. What can one expect from this? special mention: tricycles.

  13. i hope makalusot to para mabasa ng madlang pipol……

    Anonymous says:
    August 3, 2013 at 8:40 pm

    Dear Netizens…

    We are very surprised to see this overwhelming response online. We seek no attention and we don’t welcome fame. That said, we will continue to be anonymous.

    To the blog owner, the community wants to protect you. How can we protect your blog? Are you well informed on how to use each security feature on wordpress? If not, you can ask the community here on how you can further enhance the security of your blog and its consistencies. And to the community, let’s guard this blog.

    This could be our last entry here. And we will make it quick.

    JLN Corporation is only a small part of the structured embezzlement system established in this government. do you think that if all of us demand to “open janet’s bank accounts” will happen? No. Why? She’s is protected by law not to do it. Just like you and me. You have the right to refuse not to show your bank accounts to me, or to your friends, cousins, etc. Janet will exercise that right, same as we can also exercise our rights. Remember jose pidal? Was the envelope opened? No. How about corona? Were all the key bank accounts revealed? No. The Marcoses, their offshore accounts, yes they are “freezed”, but have you seen the details? No. And where are they now? They are still in power. And they will be forever in power. How about chavit singson? Do you know that he owns the land where metrowalk ortigas is located? How were they able to own that? Of course through jueteng and corruption. But that’s another story.

    The point is – the philippine law is in Janet’s side. Like others that were in the same situation as her now – marcos, estrada, lacson, glorya, corona and countless politicians (well almost all of them) – this too shall pass. And she will be acquitted. I can see the web traffic on this blog and there’s a significant number of lawyers reading this comment at this very moment. And they know that I am right. Surprisingly, Janet is reading this blog right now, and you can just imagine her big smile painted on her face.

    Why? Because the people you elected created a law that will protect them from us. And there is nothing that we can do. There is nothing that you can do. People power? Yes we can all march on Edsa and after that what? We will all be back where this issue left off – country will still be in poverty.

    Let’s go back to the current issue. Janet’s company, JLN Corporation together with her family, serves only a fraction of what caused the poverty in this nation. She’s only a part of a hand that feeds the mouth and the whole body. Now, ponder this, IF the Napoles is put into prison at this very instant, and we recovered their wealth and put it back from the people’s coffer – now what? The same congressmen, senators, cabinet members, police chiefs, army chiefs, NBI chiefs, judges will start to steal again. Have we solved the root cause the nation’s problem? No.

    You and I are angry at Janet. Yes, that is true. But consider this, Janet is only a facilitator. The beneficiaries of everything she stole goes back to the senators, congressmen, mayors, etc. And JLN Corporation is only ONE company that we are aware of. There are MANY companies and foundations out there that, members of the congress and senators operate. You think that enrile has no foundation similar to janet? Hell no, he got dozens. And also estrada, etc.

    I want to state some facts here. Janet is still “poor” compare to the arroyos and macapagals. In fact, janet’s wealth doesn’t even come close to pandak. Pandak’s family has been plundering the nation since Diosdado’s time. How? That’s why Dado got rid off the americans because Dado wants absolute control of the country’s wealth. Similar to glorya, from VP to President to congress. They will fuck everyone just to stay with power. Why? Annual country budget in our country averages Php21Trillion. Imagine even if you can have 1% of that amount every year, will you not kill anyone that will stand in your way and fuck everyone else?

    Now let’s go back. JLN corp and jo-chris trading accumulated wealth during the time of arroyo. And we all know for a fact that marcos’ wealth is puny compare to the collective wealth of the arroyos and macapagals. And during the time of arroyo, everyone steals from everybody and they made a killing. Do you think that with a company like Janet’s will not attract arroyo’s attention during her term?

    Arroyo knows janet and glorya just let her run her business. Why? Arroyo was busy in bigger projects and Janet’s company breathes life to this ecosystem and keeps its liquidity. Janet’s company and other companies similar to hers keep things balance in this systematic scheme and organized plunder.

    So people, if we want to be angry, let’s not be angry to one person only. Let’s be angry to the people who held post during glorya’s term and to previous and current members of congress and some senators (wait, is tito sotto still a senator? No wonder) and mayors, and governors, and cabinet members and their undersecretaries.

    To all the people who demand for trial and investigation, please stop, please. Nothing will come out of that investigation and please don’t fool yourselves that if you make a campaign to stop and abolish pork barrel and pork barrel will be gone – no, it will not happen. Never.

    The philippines have already suffered enough. All our previous people power were all peaceful and look at ourselves now. We are still here and I am writing this piece.

    The solution is a violent revolt against all members of congress and senate. Let their bodies hang on bridges and burn their houses. Once the purge is over, the government should hire a foreign consulting company that will handle the nation’s budget and rebuild this nation from ground up. It is a fact that we filipinos cannot govern our own selves, let’s face it. Once we see power and wealth within our grasps, we don’t fucking care anymore. This is the only way to restore our nation and to bring back countless OFWs abroad and start a new life for the current generation.

    There is no other solution.

    Before we abandon this blog, we will give you the telephone number of Janet. All of them have accounts in Globe. So if you have friends working in the call centre of globe, you can hook up with them and uncover all their numbers. Once Janet’s number is out, it will only be a matter of hours before she switches to another number, so text her with something substantial that will drive her do the right thing. The family is still in the country but they will be leaving next week. Numerous congressmen and senators are already sending their children abroad so better hurry if we will start a bloody revolt. Burning the houses in ayala alabang and forbes park is a good place to start the purge.

    Here is her number:
    +63917 525 XXXX (edited)

    Remember, this is not all Janet’s fault, her part in this grand scheme is very, very, very, little to be honest. The whole nation is in poverty because of the people you voted and they created laws that will make it legitimate to steal from you and me and from all of us. Kill all the congressmen. Kill all the senators. Don’t forget to kill the Macapagals and the Arroyos down to their last kin. Guard the airports and seaports, don’t let them out. And we will have our freedom and you will all get your taxes back. you can also kill kris aquino if you like.

    Or maybe we can just sit back and relax and go back to work on Monday and forget that this blog ever existed. Just dont be mad when you see your payslip with the word TAX on it, and GSIS/SSS, and salary loans, and PAGIBIG and all those other shit that only your payroll team knows.

    Tita Jenny, we are very sorry for this and to Jeane – we hate to admit but all the parties you had were all amazing and you really know how to bring the house down *wink wink high fives and down lows wink wink*. But we have to do this. Who knows tita jen, you may become a hero in this story because you became the catalyst to finally make a positive change in this country. But we think everyone is looking for you now. And there is no fucking way out.

    And to the napoles children, all of you should have known that your parents were helping politicians steal money, you should have told them before to stop immediately. And to janet and jimmy, you should be ashamed of yourselves bringing your own demise to your family. and to ALL the politicians, PNP chiefs, Army chiefs, judges and cabinet members, just pray that the napoleses wont post your home addresses and phone numbers here on this blog – else you’ll be all fucked. (We want to see Glorya and Enrile fucked up so hard by the way – if a bloody revolt happens. How long enrile has been in power? since 1986? fuck hell, how much is his worth now?!?!)

    xxxxxxx——-xxxxxxxx——xxxxxxx

    (Haven’t you noticed that globe is owned by the ayalas, ayala alabang is of course alayas and every politician has a house in that village, and everything else is ayala – aside from the lopezes, cojuangcos, gokongweis, villars, madrigals, monteverdes, sys, tans, uys, villars, etc etc etc. I thought that we were free from the spaniards more than a century ago? Seems not.)

  14. From other blog…

    Anonymous says:
    August 2, 2013 at 9:54 pm

    People in the internet challenges me if i have proof. No i do not.

    But i can tell you that there are two metal safes inside JLN Corp.’s office at 2502 Discovery Suites in ortigas. One safe is inside Jimmy Napoles’ office and the other one is in Janet’s office. Their office also have a small storage room where all previous invoices and receipts that were never use during the past few years are being kept. If you, the reader can magically teleport yourself in that room, you will definitely find all the answers to your questions.

    There is also a 5-drawer filing cabinet (metal and beige in color) in front of Janet’s office door where all files of each congressman, senators, mayors, governors, secretaries, undersecretaries, are nicely filed and named. Each folder contains copies of cheques, cash vouchers, petty cash vouchers, receipts of cash advances and bank account details for each transaction.

    If by any chance that this blog has reached the Napoles family, they will move these safes and drawers outside their office ASAP. They will use the utility elevators located in the back of the building to transport the cabinets and all its contents. Once they reach the carpark, they will go to carpark slot number 1 to load these things. Janet owns carpark numbers 1, 2 and 3 at Discovery Suites. It is a good thing to also ask Jun Pareno, one of the big bosses of Discovery Suites, how he helps the Napoles family all throughout these years conducting VVIP services to some congressmen and senators as part of Janet’s perks to them using the hotel services.

    Going back, those drawers will be moved in binan laguna in one of their houses there and everything will be burned. This has not happened yet. And if you, the readers, do nothing, once those drawers are out of the streets, there goes your evidence. Don’t let the local san juan police raid their office because that is part of their plan – to have the police storm their office and make it appear that everything is being seized. Of course, what safer way it is than to transport the cabinets escorted by law enforcement officers only to be burned after.

    Clever. Very clever Janet indeed. Was it that Jinggoy’s idea or Gringo?