“Necessary Changes in the Streetscapes of Metro Manila”

     All national roads slash main thoroughfares should have wide plaza-like sidewalks on both sides with an array of intermittent trees and very bright lamp posts at the gutter to serve as shield at the height of noon and illumination in the middle of the night. This assumes that these sidewalks would be walkable at all times, 24/7. Should bike lanes be within the sidewalk or outside in the street? For a change, we Filipinos can stop being too dependent on vehicles to get to where we need to be. We have two legs, the left and the right, plus the two arms to swing alongside them. Walking is simple yet an encompassingly-healthful exercise that doesn't even look like an exercise. Walk to work. Walk to school. Walk to saunter. Walk to apply. Stretch your limbs and sweat. Burn your sugar and cholesterol. With only few people doing it, it can be awkward though not really. But if by group or hordes, it'd be commonplace. Once we develop the habit and achieve the infrastructure, we can now match it with a transport system that runs in the streets like this:

     For highways where buses have routes, Lane 1, steel-fenced, should be exclusively and non-negotiably for buses only. Lane 2, steel-fenced, can be shared by jeepneys and delivery vehicles. The idea is that essential business processes and mass commuting should never be hampered by the pesky heavy traffic caused by private cars, to whom, with a heavy heart, we have to give the remaining lanes. Imagine a fat cruiser occupied by only one person who, inside, sits very comfortably in the soft upholstery, cold and fragrant air conditioning, and surround-sound music while there's chaos outside. We shouldn't even give them any importance nor worry about them. Let them twist themselves to confusion amidst the very thing they cause every single day.

     In a usual avenue where buses don't have route, half of which, consists of three lanes, Lane 1 should be given exclusively to jeepneys or be shared with delivery vehicles. Jeepneys, like buses, should have designated stops; and only in these stops can commuters get off. The rest of the distance, commuters would have to walk because we just made it physically impossible for the jeepneys to drop them exactly where they want as if they were in a wheelchair.

     In addition, the following modes of transportation are extremely important in the metropolis:

     More trains. Obviously.

     More ferries on the rivers and esteros. You got a problem with that?

     Bring back the tranvia along with the kalesa in old Manila. They shall no longer be for mere touristic purposes but are to become the commonplace vehicles in that area in place of those ugly and dingy contrivances on wheels. Corny? I'm actually serious. I ain't joking. The tranvia and the kalesa are part of the Filipino culture. And we'll perpetuate them for the next generations of Filipinos to see on and on. Have one station of tranvia in Divisoria to help wholesale shoppers move their bulk items towards another transport terminal; for example, Quiapo church or Escolta ferry station.

     The Philippines is a tropical country where the climate is humid and sticky in the summer and damp, muddy, and floody in rainy and typhoon seasons. That's the kind of climate we've been given. Sorry. We can't do anything about it. We must live with it. Therefore, we adapt, not adopt. We're not like other countries although probably similar to our neighbors. Therefore, our infrastructures and landscapings should address, mitigate, and even improve upon and complement our unpleasant realities. Obviously, reliance on and the profusion of concrete in public spaces are like a multiple self-punches in the face. It's fine in places where there's snow and therefore inapplicable here. We're in the tropics; and so we must go tropical, wooden, natural, and even neoclassical. Not modern. Uh-uh. That means less to almost no concrete and more lush greeneries and clean and vibrant waterways. For example, the surrounding greenery of the Laguna Lake and even the lake itself should be kept or restored in its pristine condition. In one of its tip is the future site of a massive east-coast public park that will serve as a parallel to Luneta in the west coast. Therefore, no ugly elevated road that would only bring traffic and pollution later on should ruin this landscape, destroy the ruralness the area, deface the site of The Chase on the Lake in my biased opinion, and block the view of the mountain range. Instead of this ugly contrivance brought about by a grade-school-level concept, why not instead surround the entire lake and fill the lip of its shore with a circumferential road blocked against a possible overflow by an elevated esplanade? That can surely enrich the traveling experience. You know what I liken the idea of an elevated road and even flyovers to? To the use of old-fashioned bulky braces when I can use the French cleat system to make a floating desk! The latter is equally, if not more, durable and never bulky and more visually appealing. It turns out, it's more a matter of how we manipulate spaces and how well we place elements in those spaces to allocate just the right amount of materials and exertion to produce better results. So it's not the effort but the overall long-term effect? If so, don't expect any effort from me! Which leads me to the conclusion that additional roads and road widening on national roads slash main thoroughfares are never really the answer.

    As early as now, I thank private entities who have made the right decision to bring some developments on the river banks. You're doing this country a great service. It's a gamble. It's a leap of faith. And we appreciate it. May your businesses be profitable. And why not? In the first place, the Philippines is a country of rivers. Ancient Filipinos had always been river-traveling people. And we, their descendants, want to go back to the way of living of our ancestors. Which leads us to this small request: Is it possible to make the facade of the establishments you would open for us consuming public face the river and be accessible through the ferry? Who knows? Some of you may take over the ferry system when it is already feasible. At a very affordable fare, of course. I think that would help bring life and activity to the important but underused arteries of Metro Manila and convince our fellow urban Filipinos to try to spend some time away from the stressful land travel and develop an affinity in sailing the historic waters that gave life and livelihood to our ancestors and inspired our heroes to create literary masterpieces that we still study to this day in our schools. As a brown-skinned native myself in this present dispensation, I delight in this unique identity of my country and how it came to be; and I embrace it and, in my own little ways as an ordinary citizen, will contribute in improving and refining it.

by: Marven T. Baldo