HOW many People Powers does Pinas need to make this country great? Wait, that’s starting to sound like MAGA — Make America Great Again. At least the U.S. has an “Again” there, meaning, it was great once upon a time. Pinas can only have MPG — Make Pinas Great. No “Again.”
Traffic. Floods. Uncollected garbage. Brown water. No water. Gastroenteritis. Leptospirosis. These are ongoing, or have been solved but with the possibility of making a major comeback in the future — or are mere figments of the wild imagination of Cagayanons. For a city aiming to be a metro soon, perhaps it’s time to seriously find solutions to these problems. Or stop Cagayanons from overthinking.
I’ve lived in Cagayan de Oro for several decades now. Oops. Age reveal. Thanks to those decades, I was here when my neighbors and I could still play patintero at Corrales Avenue — right there on the street. Try playing patintero there now. Good luck.
The former Cagayanon who now lives abroad also remembers how it was like living here when he was young, and he expects the same vibe each time he’s here for a vacation. But those days are gone, replaced by the chaos that the forevermore Cagayanon has to deal with daily.
The former Cagayanon may happily walk from Cogon to Corrales to Carmen, like a child rediscovering an old playground while reminiscing on the good old days. And there’s the forevermore Cagayanon, shocked with disbelief: you walked from where to where?
But then, the former resident is right about walking — driving a car through the traffic will take him longer.
There’s this joke about the flight duration from CDO to Manila that’s one hour and 40 minutes, compared to driving from the city proper to Bugo, which will take four hours. Could be an exaggeration, but it’s possible.
I write my columns while traveling from uptown to downtown and vice versa. That’s probably why I’m missing deadlines now. One of the reasons I go downtown is for the movies. I’d rather stay home if there’s no movie worth watching — and that’s what’s been happening since “Avatar.”
There will be nice movies next week. That’s when I can meet column deadlines again. Fingers crossed.
The traffic is expected to worsen once Manresa Town is operational in 2033. Perhaps the preventive measure against that will be the Manresa Access Road connecting Masterson Avenue to Balulang Road, which will hopefully ease the traffic once it’s completed in the last quarter of 2027.
The Manresa Access Road is a joint project of Xavier-Ateneo and Manresa Town’s developer Cebu Landmasters, Inc., and fully funded by the latter.
In Pinas, progress means more concrete and more traffic. I guess the Pinoy gets bored with trees and walking, thus the need to cut them and buy a car for each family member.
Nature can actually take care of itself if allowed to. But if covered with concrete, it can suffocate and stop breathing.
Much like the body, it can heal itself if given the time to do so through the carnivore diet and intermittent fasting.
