Bautista to Build More Flyovers in Baguio
This just in today. One of my guests alerted me to a report at the Philippine Daily Inquirer headlined:
MORE FLYOVERS SEEN IN BAGUIO CITY
Thank you, Vincent Cabreza, for reporting this idiocy.
“The worsening traffic problem here has moved the city government to consider building new flyovers and an underpass that could compromise its conservation projects for Baguio’s centennial celebration next year. Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. informed city officials this week about plans to build a new flyover, pedestrian overpasses and an underground vehicular tunnel near the City Hall. Studies Bautista said studies have been commissioned to help the city government design an appropriate underground tunnel in a road behind City Hall. At least three other major traffic intersections are being considered to host flyovers, he said…
… The report also pointed out an oversupply of public utility jeeps servicing the city. The jeeps represent half of the volume of Baguio’s mass transport system. Traffic management here is also hampered by broken traffic lights that have never been replaced. READ MORE!
Hay naku, if this is not enough to doubt the intelligence and competence of some people in government! Saan ba nag-graduate at nag-trabaho ang mga ‘yan?!
- Instead of building flyovers, disallow the jeepneys and taxis from parking in the center of town waiting for passengers.
- Rationalize jeepney routes because LTFRB just keeps issuing franchises indiscriminately.Our taxis should go north-south, east-west and circumferential.
- Determine once and for all how many legitimate taxi cabs operators should be on Baguio roads
- Move the schools out of the center of town and require them to provide parking for their students, teachers and staff.
All Bautista wants to do is ruin tourism so Baguio will be at the mercy of his school, and others like his, that are directly responsible for the ‘uglification’ of Baguio. He did go on record during the ‘Meningococcemia Epidemic (of Stupidity)’ saying, “Baguio does not need the tourists anymore because we have the schools.”
O, Diyos ko, ano ba naman ito
‘Di ba? ‘Tang ina! ‘
- Eraserheads, “Pare Ko”
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Added: 1/12/2008:
In last year’s posts, I kept suggesting repeatedly that any government development moves be backed up with studies and concrete plans. Peter Rey Bautista must have been listening but instead of conducting studies for the long-term improvement of Baguio he now uses this to make his insidious plans appear sound. To quote the PDI report further:
Bautista said studies have been commissioned to help the city government design an appropriate underground tunnel in a road behind City Hall.
Duh, studies have been commissioned to help the city government design!? I am pointing out to you that studies should have been conducted on how to ease congestion in the city, or how to address congestion in the city — which could have led to solutions like rationalizing public transportation, but not necessarily to build an underground tunnel or effing flyovers!
With Peter Rey, it’s more like, “I WANT a public works project, I WANT an underground tunnel or something, MAKE ME A STUDY so I can have my underground tunnel and make it appear necessary.
Maybe Baguio City voters will finally realize that their choice of mayors has been so wrong in the years after the earthquake. Maybe next time Baguio will vote for the candidate who will promise not to build a single building, flyover, overpass or underpass during his term.
Honestly, I do not know if Baguio can afford two more years of Peter Rey Bautista and his shenanigans. So much damage can be done by him and his cohorts, the Baguio City Council in the 30 months they have left in office. I hope you guys can see that.
These people must be put in their place and stopped NOW!
hello Liza….Is the flyover on top of the rotunda operational na? I know hindi pa and I do know the traffic it causes every morning…and they want MORE! All I can say is, the mayor(whose family runs a school of 20T enrollees, eeww, SCARY!) is clearly showing his TOTAL LACK of LOGIC. How dumb can one person(or as a collective whole…local gov’t) really get? I hope these geniuses will be enlightened.
Hi Elaine!
Domogan’s flyover is scheduled to be inaugurated this month. I believe they were hoping Gloria would cut the ribbon when she was here for the New Year, but as last Sunday’s Baguio Midland Courier’s editorial mentions:
“Curiously, the inauguration didn’t take place as scheduled. Would it be that there are some safety concerns not yet addressed? Would it be that there are some inherent structural defects just now discovered? Time will tell and, hopefully, what befalls the flyover will befall its proponents.
Karma, is it?”
And for those who stuff 20,000 clueless teenagers into tree-less and sorry-excuses-for-a-campus building clusters, let no one ever yell, “Fire!” or “Earthquake!”
Hi Lisa…looks like i’ll be looking at flyovers all over our beautiful city of Baguio once I decide to go home for good. Why not just build another county instead of building structures within the city proper? Require operators to build their own garages as you’ve suggested for their vehicles and make it a requirement for those applying for franchises as well? I believe that session road should only be for pedestrians to enjoy. Vehicles should be prohibited within the bounderies of session rd., from the cathedral area down to the Maharlika area then from Harrison to Gen. Luna Rd. as well. But again we can only dream of such environment.Give my regards to the Trees and Mountains of our Beloved City. Thanks and keep up the good work!
Hi Manny,
It looked like you won’t see Baguio anymore because these fools will cover it up with flyovers!
Lisa,
Just sent you a googleearth shot of the City Hall and vicinity. I don’t know how congested it is around it but are there really that many accidents happening around that these flyovers are needed. Looks like folks there want easy in and out of that building. Tell me which is which. Dumb or stupid street crossers or reckless, dumb, stupid drivers! No more discipline(matagal na ba?) i guess huh! We better buy/invest in stocks or shares of cement companies quick.
Hi Joe,
I was able to finally download the google earth shot you sent me. Most of the vehicles are parked, judging by the slanted parking. There are virtually no accidents there. I just heard he is planning to dig under abanao road (of course you’re familiar with that!)to exit at Bokawkan.
I am willing to allow UB to take that same amount to relocate them elsewhere. For each overpass, I am willing to give it to UC BCF and SLU — just to decongest the city.
Heck, they can take the whole 900M that Bautista wants to spend on Baguio in one year.
Hmmph. Bautista just can’t wait to get his hands dirty so soon, can he? These were never revealed when he and the minions ran for office.
Surprise!
hello lisa, may i share the ff link:
http://transalt.org/newsroom/media/2113
thanks…
Kung yung UB gumuho nung lindol, and they seem to continuously build buildings that catch fire easily and will easily collapse in an earthquake, what more trusting the contruction of flyovers and whatnots ti the Bautistas. Sarili nga nilang school ni nila masecure, idadamay pa nila ang Baguio.
In addition to that, most local officials KNOW that baguio has a large sinking area in the CBD.
Karma siguro na naabo yung ilang UB buildings
IOt’s true that traffic is problem but I guess that bigest contributor to traffic is those hard-headed PUVs, the jeeps in particular. Itsn’t it better and cheaper to enfore the law rather than creating flyovers, overpass that will collapse when a 20-sec, 5.0 magnitude earthquake will hit the city. Yung mga jeeps kasi misong intersection at pedestrian lane, ginagawang ‘paradahan’. How can we not have a bad traffic?
Thanks, Resty, for sharing the article!
What a wonderful step New York has taken to “take the city back” for the New Yorkers. Let me work on this train of thought for a future post. Simply wonderful!
Hello Janice,
The UB Fire is a wake up call for Baguio. How safe are our buildings, our childen, our environment, our neighborhoods? Is this the Baguio we want?
Thank you for your observations. People cause traffic, by their lack of discipline and laziness. People cause pollution by their selfishness and laziness. I hope many others like you notice that BUILDING FLYOVERS IN BAGUIO ARE NOT THE REAL SOLUTIONS TO OUR PROBLEMS.
They might just traffic flow smoother in certain parts of the city but add to the traffic elsewhere, like Domogan’s flyover, which actually CAUSES traffic now.
Baguio needs urban planning that will improve the way of life for the citizens and respects our natural environment, without taking into consideration the need to fill the pockets and egos of our politician-kings.