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Happy 58th birthday to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo today! She will hear mass in the church in Lubao, Pampanga and then come back to Manila for a working Cabinet meeting.
Well, it’s nice to have a really hardworking president. Her approval ratings may have slipped, but we can be sure she’ll work harder. Have a beautiful day, Mrs. President!
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I wrote a column entitled, "There Goes My Neighborhood" not to long ago, and I received quite a lot of feedback on it.
The letter-writers represent the old residents of Manila who like me, still stay in the city. We love the city but can’t stand to see how it is wasting away everyday. True, Mayor Lito Atienza has a program to "renovate", re-light and "re-invent" some public areas like plazas but the residential streets are left pretty much to the mercy of jeepneys, sidewalk vendors, squatters, junk yards and repair shops.
Today I am reprinting in full one such letter. I share the pain and frustration of Corazon Tanglao Dacanay and I thank her most sincerely for emailing us. She is right in thinking seriously of helping her community as a longtime resident. I would volunteer too to do something if we are given a voice by City Hall. Anyway, here is her letter. My e-mail address is dees_day-@yahoo.com
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"Please count me in as one of the disgruntled residents of Manila. I could not agree more with the sentiments you expressed in your Bulletin column today entitled "There goes my neighborhood," because it simple spoke the truth.
I was born and raised in Manila, and continue to reside thereat. If I had the choice and the wherewithal, my family and I would have left the place in 1998, when the place started to worsen, aesthetically and security wise. But unlike others, I have no choice but to stick it out in the place of my birth.
My family lives in Malate. It used to be a safe place. There were no noisy karaoke contraptions publicly playing till the wee hours of the morning, no noisy creatures of the night publicly drinking liquor and making the streets their own private place to party, and definitely, no illegal structures along the sidewalks and streets. Sidewalks were for pedestrians, and streets were for vehicles. One way streets were used as such, and no jeepney would dare make a counter-flow on any of the streets.
Now, it is par for the course to have (non-sound proofed) karaoke bars operating 24/7 in every nook and cranny of the city, to see night clubs and beer houses operating beside schools and churches, and of streets being closed to traffic in order to accommodate the birthday bash of the barangay officials of that place. Too, informal settlers have invaded almost every vacant lot in the city, whether public or privately-owned. Just look at M.H. Del Pilar and Mabini streets. The whole place is so seedy, smelly and dirty, and this fact can not be hidden by the beautification of Roxas Boulevard. The prostitutes are back on the streets with a vengeance. The streets of Paco, particularly Pedro Gil and Escoda, have been turned into one long jeepney terminal. Ermita, Paco and Malate have gone to the dogs.
It seems the good citizens of Ermita, Paco and Malate are all going to Marikina, Ayala Alabang, abroad or wherever there is sanity in the streets and security in the home. Unfortunately, we do not have the means to up and leave the place of our birth.
I have tried to call the attention of city hall of Manila, but unfortunately, it does not seem to matter what the true blue law-abiding and tax-paying city residents say. Is it because we do not have the numbers, unlike the informal settlers and the "hakots" who can probably assure them and their political dynasty of continued stay in the public office? But aren’t we the ones paying the taxes to pay for their salaries and enable the continuous delivery of public service?
If you and your friends have any proposal on how cleanliness, sanity and security can be brought back to the residents of Manila, particularly Ermita, Paco and Malate, please do tell me how I can pitch in to help, no matter how meager that may be. You may reach me at the above e-mail address.
Corazon DLP. Tanglao-Dacanay
Ombudsman Building
Agham Road, Quezon City
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NOTES… another "ate" of mine, Lita Esteban celebrated her birthday last March 28 in America with her sons Dr. Amado "Boyette" Esteban, PhD, his wife Jo and daughter Sasa and Dr. Julian "Jette" Esteban, M.D. his wife Cherry and twins Michaela and Miguel. Her daughter, Dra. Tonette who is married to cardiologist Luis Habana is here in Manila with Lita’s "apos" Pia, John and Miko. John just had a recital in classical guitar in Miriam College and Miko is deep in workouts with his baseball team.
Also last March 29, my "comadre" Corazon Barte, an ex-public who now runs the popular "Light of the World retreat house in Pasong Langka, Silang near the Tagaytay boundary with her daughter Jen, marked a milestone. We share an apo, smart and adorable four-year old "Monchu" only son of my Junie and her Coralyn!
This Thursday’s "Dee’s Day" on RPN 9 will feature Tourism secretary Joseph "Ace" Durano and his three team leaders to Japan, China and Korea, three markets the DOT is focusing on.
