The new city mayor of Mandaluyong appears unaware and even unconcerned about the blight of Mandaluyong, which translates to untold misery for city constituents, and for Filipinos sojourning in the city.
The police station located at the corner of Mayflower and United streets near the Greenfield commercial area needs to be revamped. Many of the police vehicles there do not have valid license plates, or do not have updated registration. These vehicles belch smoke while traversing the roads.
Under the law, all government and private vehicles must bear valid license plates at all times, and their registration must be constantly updated. Police vehicles are not exempted from this requirement. On the other hand, operating a government or private vehicle which belches smoke is a violation of the Clean Air Act.
Although policemen are under the authority of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the mayor of the city where policemen operate has the duty to monitor the policemen and to report abuses to the proper authorities. Surely, a complaint in that regard from the city mayor will be attended to immediately by the DILG.
Another problem in Mandaluyong City is the one-way by-pass along Pioneer Street located at the segment between Reliance and Sheridan streets (between the McDonald outlet and the RFM building). That segment is a one-way route towards Shaw Boulevard. Vehicles on Pioneer Street going the opposite way (heading for Boni Avenue) are forcibly rerouted to Reliance Street and made to turn left at Sheridan Street, then return to Pioneer Street.
That by-pass segment at Pioneer Street disrupts the smooth flow of traffic there because it creates bottlenecks at the intersections of Pioneer and Reliance, and of Pioneer and Sheridan.
Further south, heavy traffic accumulates at the area right after Sheridan Street where Pioneer Street begins its ascent towards the Boni Avenue tunnel. Although vehicles in that area headed for Shaw Boulevard are not allowed to make a u-turn there, many taxicabs and tricycles insist on doing so. That’s because there are no traffic policemen or traffic aides in the vicinity who can serve as visual deterrents.
That traffic mess is replicated at south end of Libertad Street near the bridge connecting it to the Rockwell Center in Makati City. Vehicles headed towards Makati must detour to a sideroad before they can go to the bridge. This creates a traffic mess similar to that on Pioneer Street.
While traffic regulation is the concern of the Metro Manila Development Authority, the city mayor is expected to coordinate with the MMDA so as to ease the traffic situation in the city.
Speaking of the MMDA, why was ex-MMDA Chairman Emerson Carlos, a staunch supporter of the hated Liberal Party, appointed as officer-in-charge of the MMDA under the Duterte administration? The traffic situation in the metropolis was a nightmare during his term. There was a time when the MMDA used the eastbound lane of the Pasig City segment of Julia Vargas Avenue at the Ortigas Center as a parking lot for towed vehicles. As a result, traffic always got tied up in that area, even during the non-rush hours. Hopefully, Carlos will not stay long in the MMDA.
Attention is invited to the pedestrian overpass along Ortigas Avenue near the Notre Dame gate of Wack-Wack Village. The base of the pedestrian overpass located at the eastbound lane of Ortigas Avenue protrudes into the road itself and posits a traffic hazard to vehicles bound for Edsa. Since the base is not painted and has no reflectors, illumination or warning signs whatsoever, it is a safety hazard, specially at night. This death trap is infront of La Salle Green Hills and threatens the safety of school children there.
The threat posed by this pedestrian overpass reminds many of the deadly tunnel beneath the Edsa and Ayala Avenue intersection in Makati City. The tunnel has a solid concrete wall at the midpoint of its southbound lane. When the tunnel was relatively new, the wall did not have sufficient illumination or warning signages. Since the tunnel itself was always dark, the wall became a safety hazard. It was a fatal accident waiting to happen, and happen it did. One day, a car smashed into the wall, and the driver was killed.
To avoid a repetition of the mishap, the government installed safety lights, reflectors, and warning signs near the wall. The sad fact that remains, however, is that a motorist had to die before government officials finally made the tunnel safe.
Residents living near the Mandaluyong City Hall resent the never-ending flooding in their area. One of the main roads leading to the city hall is in horrible disrepair. It seems like the contractor chosen by the Department of Public Works and Highways to fix the sewerage system there has abandoned the project. Although the deadline for the completion of the project had been extended repeatedly by the DPWH, the completion remains nowhere in sight. Meanwhile, the residents have to put up with the floods. Business establishments in the area have closed down.
The Mandaluyong City government may not have anything to do with the DPWH project, but its officials should file anti-graft cases against the contractor and the DPWH personnel who allowed the mess to happen. So far, the Mandaluyong City government has not done anything in that direction, and the residents have to wade through the floodwaters.
Finally, something should be done about the public toilets in the Mandaluyong City Hall compound where the trial courts are located. They lack sufficient running water, and they are dirty.
Numerous billboards bearing the image of the city mayor can be found everywhere in the city. Instead of spending taxpayer money for those useless vanity billboards, the mayor should use that money to repair those toilets. Mandaluyong City, after all, is supposed to be a first class “tiger city.”
