Traffic woes

BEHIND THE SCENES
Alfred P. Dizon

BAGUIO CITY – Roads here and in nearby La Trinidad, Benguet are slowly and painfully being dug and commuters nowadays just mumble and gripe about the sad state of things like taxpayers’ money being wasted by government officials.

Since I live in La Trinidad and have to go to nearby Baguio everyday, I now pass through the alternate Longlong Road since passing through the Halsema Highway nowadays usually takes around an hour and a half to two hours for a distance of six kilometers.

Along the 10 km Longlong route, it takes around 20 minutes to Baguio but nowadays, it could also take an hour due to traffic since once one reaches Quezon Hill vehicles get stuck since there are only a handful of workers fixing the road.

All over the city, roads are being simultaneously dug and people are saying they have had enough basing from their rants over the airwaves and newspapers. They talk of officials misusing taxpayers’ money and how roads have gone from bad to worse.

They couldn’t understand why roads in very good condition which had been fixed two to three years ago have been dug for “rehabilitation” in what the Department of Public Works and Highways calls “preventive maintenance.” They talk of why the money was not used more judiciously for the people like for livelihood purposes.

If one wants to know the real score of things about these diggings, traffic or local matters like the multi-million garbage industry which concerns officials, just go to Luisas Restaurant along Session Road in Baguio where the media usually converge.

You see, reports have it that SOPs (special operating procedures) or rather money which changes hands so one could get an infra contract has now gone up to 30 percent.

Since this is the case, according to the grapevine, contractors usually come up with substandard projects as money for operations is barely enough. Of course, only the favored ones get prime projects. And since they know they have given the moolah to their benefactors, they can take their own sweet time finishing their projects since they know they would not get a reprimand.

A story has it about this contractor, a former official of a regional agency who was never elected to public office got a contract to finish a barangay road in Barangay Irisan. He had the road dug by his minions but after a while, stopped the project since he reportedly ran out of funds. Now, the residents there are cursing him everyday for the excellent job he made.

Then there is this other contractor who was supposed to finish a portion of a national road to the Ilocos Region who also dug the thoroughfare along the stretch below the funeral parlors. Now, particularly during peak hours, it could take a century to reach one’s destination.

Reports have it that even the dead and the ghosts are complaining since it is taking so long for them to reach the Pearly Gates as a result of the projects. So if one hears somebody shouting or wailing along the area at night, according to the drunken masters there, it is these entities trying to pass on to the Great Beyond but cannot do so owing to the moon craters.

Then, there is this river they call a road from Baguio to La Trinidad which was pasted on with substandard asphalt. It was actually a cosmetic job to show the officials upstairs that they did a great job. But when the typhoons came, alas the asphalt suddenly vanished into thin air like a UFO suddenly descended in the dead of night and siphoned it leaving the road in worse condition.

Of course the people know who the usual magicians are and if you want to get a feel of what people think about the job, just ride a public utility jeep which passes the area while you inhale noxious fumes and dust.

If you want to know about the other projects in Baguio, of course, just go to Luisas where the conversation always drifts to this government agency in charge of projects.

It would be interesting to know how many officials of this agency have the most number of spunky vehicles, mistresses, palaces or beach resorts. You think the “daang matuwid” policy of P-Noy is being followed? You must be living on the moon.

But then, if you are, you are in for bad times. You may wake up one day and see people from the government of this Banana Republic digging craters to make roads.