Open Letter to Gen. Nicolas Torre III, MMDA General Manager

Dear Sir.

WE ARE among the countless people in and outside of the country inspired by your appointment as General Manager of MMDA. I humbly represent, together with several dozen members, dependents of Philippine military personnel.

I am a member of the board of directors of the Sons and Daughters of the Defenders of Bataan & Corregidor (S&DDBC).

As an army brat, sir, my kababata and I are proud, happy and hopeful of your success and future as an important management tool to address Metro Manila’s challenging issues.

In this regard we send you our best wishes for your success. We also ish that you and your able men can please focus on the following blights in Metro Manila that have been there seemingly unattended to for a long time.

Everyone knows how bad MM’s traffic situation is and we know you are aware of that as among your primary concerns. So we choose to instead draw your attention, sir, to MM’s “unseen but strongly felt  unsettling and disturbing issues.”

Our thoughts:

1. Garbage—with all the money being reported squandered by unscrupulous elements in government and returned, we earnestly suggest, sir, that you look into (a) developing a modern and  comprehensive garbage collection program that includes simple placement in strategic locations of large heavy metal disposal bins in city neighborhood areas and for contents to be collected weekly by modern mechanically operated  garbage trucks that will be run by trained personnel.

There are dozens of samples of this updated system in neighboring countries; (b) require ALL public places and interiors of malls to provide garbage cans that are visible to all and easily accessible; with all the hoopla about restaurants, excellent Filipino food and specialty eating places, MMDA has as yet NO EFFORT to require setting up of public toilets with all-hours of running water and flushable bowls to be available or accessible. Why? Modern cities all have these sanitary facilities!

2. Sanitation — Can the MMDA seek help/invite the Dept of Health to jointly address a critical sanitation problem in the MM area?

(d) Has the MMDA ever attempted to look into human waste disposal systems in the whole metro area? Are human waste exit pipes in the MM area inspected, maintained and updated? We urge MM government to specially  focus on informal settlements, esteros and river banks.

Needless to say, the health of city people is at stake and supervision of this is a must! Every time there is street flooding, we shudder to think how vulnerable MM folks are!

Former Senator Trillanes grimly pointed out how children in his city neighborhood have died from infection after walking through filthy flooded city streets.

3. City Cemetery management systems—Please investigate how public cemeteries in MM have been silently invaded by informal settlers complete with electrical connections and mini stores. This is either a case of weak enforcement of laws or some MM government people are corrupted.

4. Illegal Parking exists almost everywhere along private apartment areas and interior streets. Fire trucks and ambulances responding to emergencies cannot get through such tight passages.

5. Sidewalk vendors set up wares everywhere and greatly affect pedestrian mobility. What MMDA agency is regulating this?

6. Public transportation pick up points and waiting areas along main roads are unsupervised. Observe that these sites with pedestrians and riders occupy whole lanes at peak hours which contribute greatly to traffic congestion.

7. Sphagetti wires — These ugly  black strings hanging all over city streets and neighborhoods can contribute to fire hazards. Can MMDA work with Meralco and telephone companies to regulate these UNSUPERVISED overhead wire connections in city areas? They are clear signs of backward planning and MM management should consider underground placement instead as in other modern Asian cities.

We respectfully submit these concerns to you, sir, with prayers and hope you will be able to address them soon.