Thursday, November 06, 2008




LET HIM DREAM

Bayani Fernando is stealthily encroaching on the whole archipelago with his silly new term - Metro Philippines. Whatever that means, soon, his MMDA engineers will be constructing slippery, elderly-unfriendly pink and blue steel foot-bridges right from the door of his MMDA office to the door of the presidential palace. After all, he now boasts that no less than former president Fidel Ramos has hinted that an engineer could be the next president of the Philippines. Fernando was quick to claim that FVR was alluding to him (Fernando) because he is an engineer. Now we see what goes on in BF's so-called mind these days. Endorsements, silly slogans and the presidency. And what better way to spin this lust of his than to take advantage of his position as MMDA chairman, to put his face on posters bigger than the message. We should all be enraged at the behavior of this engineer who promotes 'kaayusan' and 'disiplina,' and yet he himself doesn't have those two in his character. He says that "engineering technology" is the answer to boost livelihood for many Filipinos in the south, Mindanao in particular. He says that the country's inadequate housing program and the dismal economy is in dire need of his technology to solve the many problems there. Well, more than the poor economy, it's the economist, stupid! - his lady-boss who to this day unlawfully occupies the very office he salivates for. Naglalaway na siya maging presidente! To be more 'street-legal,' atat na atat na siya maging presidente ng 'Pinas! Fernando says that being an engineer, his solution to the Mindanao conflict is really simple: through "technology warfare," he will solve it, and with this Mindanaoans will protect their infrastructures instead of doing other things. I think he's on drugs or on something. Talk about dreaming. He further stressed that based on the statement of FVR about him, he has a big chance of becoming the next Philippine president. Remember when the same FVR endorsed former Speaker Jose de Venecia to be the ruling party Lakas' official presidential bet against former President Joseph Estrada? Well, JDV lost a poor second after Erap won the presidency by a huge margin. The Ramos endoresement is really nothing for BF to jump about and announce to his whole Metro Philippines. It's more of an empty recommendation from a not-so-clean-himself ex-president. It would bring more damage to BF than good, not to mention his 1% acceptable rating among Pinoys. Well, on that note, the reason probably why Fernando wants to bring infrastructure to Mindanao is the fact that there's really nothing else that he knows except that - a disguised "engineering technology" which would really just boost his steel business when they start building steel bridges, pink fences, concrete barriers and all those ghastly MMDA contraptions which to me are the silliest pink ideas for any urban area. His plan to reach the south and possibly the whole archipelago is a selfish motive aimed at enlarging his territorial clout needed to feed his insatiable ambition, kasi, sirang-sira na siya dito sa Metro-Manila. But that's really not the answer. The wiser answer to the problems are food production, job creation, peace and order, and respect to other faiths such as Islam. And speaking of respect, Fernando needs to have that within his people. People like those sixteen MMDA employees assigned to the Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group (SCOG) who were arrested recently for stealing PhP 5 million worth of LRTA vertical clearance posts which they eventually sold for scrap. These are the same people who see and salute his pictures more than absorbing his 'fine-printed' messages on a daily basis, simply because of the sheer size of the former, and instead of the more important message which isn't really the MMDA's priority. The same people who have been found guilty of running away with the goods of sidewalk vendors - vegetables, fruits, chickens, fish, DVDs, slippers, socks, umbrellas, ballpens, combs, briefs, and even dentures of vendors, etc. You name it, they stole it and took them to their homes! Geesh. They should all be wrapped with BF's posters, re-painted with black and yellow stripes and then use them as humps along EDSA to slow down all those killer buses with their 'shabu-head' drivers sporting BAYANI stickers. So, what really is Metro Philippines? Sounds oxymoronic to me. I've heard of Metro Cebu and Metro Davao and of course Metro Manila, but Metro Philippines? What is that? Perhaps to Bayani Fernando, since he thinks that the MMDA programs and projects he has instituted have been the best thing that ever happened to our urban cities, he probably wants now to take the whole country by his Metro-Gago, Tao-Ginago/ Urbanidad pero que barbaridad slogans. And since he has openly announced his intention to run for president in 2010, he now realizes that Metro Manila is just not big enough in terms of the electoral populace to usher him to Malacanang. And so, the solution is to simply transform the whole country's perception from the public mind with just two words: Metro Philippines. Of course, this is all just strategy and spin, and it stinks. Building steel bridges to connect the whole archipelago is a positive move - for his steel business. Then, transforming the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) into the Metro Philippines Development Authority (MPDA) under the Office of the President (OP) is also positive - for the the successor (if any), since all the secret and unbidded-out deals will still continue. Imagine, if the whole country is transformed into Metro Philippines, then that would mean 7,100 plus more small Metro Manilas in terms of voting strength, budget and political clout, enought to kick one upstairs straight to Malacanang Palace. But with his 1% rating conducted by the SWS just recently, Bayani Fernando still has a good chance to be just a 'nuisance candidate,' joining the ranks of Ely Pamatong, Eddie Gil and Co.
(Image from http://daylife.com/)

No comments: