Color Me Pink
Written on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 at 2:04 pm | by SchumeyWe’ve been seeing pink allover Metro Manila. The reason, MMDA’s Bayani Fernando. Fernando said that he would like to paint a picture of a Metro Manila in the “pink of health”. But what really lies beneath this wasteful display of arrogance and discrimination? Amid all his ongoing projects lies the poverty and desolation of so many Metro Manilans. I do agree that we need a little semblance of order in this chaotic cluster of cities but there are more ways to skin the cat so to speak.
Fernando is too arrogant to admit that he needs to create alternatives first before making minced meat of the entire population of the under-privileged. He should conduct serious discussions/planning before pushing through with his ridiculous projects. I suppose the airhead simply thinks that he is the lord of Metro Manila. Fernando reminds of Imelda Marcos who “swept the reality under the rug” during her reign. He is undisciplined as the very people he is trying to whip in place. He has grown too large for himself that more often than not, had overstepped the boundaries of his mandate.
I suppose he is better off being a beautician than an administrator. Like the one who appointed him, he is all gimmick and no show. Honest implementation of laws is what we need. We don’t need u-turn slots that cause monstrous traffic jams, we don’t need concrete barriers that maim people and destroy properties, we don’t need unlighted overpasses that exposes pedestrians to thugs. And we certainly do not need to see Fernando’s face plastered all over Metro Manila’s thoroughfares.
Pink is suppose to soothe one’s senses. At the rate Fernando is using it, it’s more of an eyesore than a relief. He maybe tickled pink with his ideas, but lunacy has no place in an already insane world.
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20 Responses to “Color Me Pink”
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You have to go to Marikina to get an idea of “why pink”? BF used to be mayor of that city and his wife is now the current mayor. Painting everything pink may be understood to be the same as Binay putting “B” on everything, and Sonny Belmonte doing likewise with “SB”. So if Marikina is all pink, BF probably wants the same for the whole of Metro Manila, which leads one to think that he want to be lord of the pink kingdom.
I heard a rumor saying Bayani Fernando owns an iron works business. Is this true? If it is, maybe it’s the reason why Metro Manila is full of shabby barriers and waiting sheds made of bakal.
Nice to see you write again, Schumey.
J,
BF is indeed a mechanical engineer and owns several businesses — I’ll not be surprised if he has an ironworks firm.
In fairness to BF he at least tries to implement solutions. I would credit both him AND Imelda for trying to beatify the Metro. Imagine Manila without Imelda-commissioned Leandro Locsins, without the pre-Aquino Roxas Blvd, and I’d think Manila will be even more drabber than drab. Talk about further depression.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like Imelda, I hate her for how she disgraced this country. But I would not flinch giving credit where credit is due.
It doesn’t take a lot of brains to figure out poverty takes generations to solve, and that poverty alleviation is not the mandate of the MMDA.
That stupid law providing the “poorest of the poor” with allowance? The government can throw its whole budget at giving allowances to every poor person and it will run bankrupt before anyone of them genuinely rises out of poverty.
And, do tell, what did Maganto and Binay achieve during *their* terms as MMDA czars? A color coding scheme the can-affords can ignore by buying 2nd hand cars with a different plate?
So really, city beatification and improvement-wise, even if in tacky pink, I’m fine with BF.
Better tacky than depressing.
Schumey, it’s all about identification.. Mar has his yellow and blue, Loren has her jeans and white top, Lacson has his clean boy scout look.. and Fernando has pink..
He needs the propaganda if only to distract the people from the actual issues that should be discussed.. I’m not sure what he’s trying to develop here, but it sure smacks of ego to me..
But Jon has a point, if only for us to realize, that mmda is not a problem solver, but an image maker..
gloriamustgo,
Well, if for problems the problems would primarily be traffic. I appreciate all the pedestrian overpasses, and *in some cases*, the U-turn slots.
But don’t get me wrong. I absolutely hate his posters. Those must be torn down.
Mga kapatid,
Kahit balibaliktarin man ang mundo, si Bayani Fernando ay isang pulitikong maganda ang track record. Tingnan mo na lang ang nangyari sa Marikina. Tingnan mo na lang ang nangyari sa EDSA.
Mawalang-galang na po sa mga kritiko ng ating bansa, pero baka naman pwede nating pagbigyan ang mga pulitikong may mga nagagawang matinong resulta tulad ni BF. Hindi puro pangako. Hindi puro pamemera. Pero may resultang maganda! Sa tingin ko mga kababayan, ito ang ating kailangan.
Lester, the problem with our mildly competent politicians is that their success easily goes to their heads. They manage to fix traffic and clear sidewalks and they suddenly think they are God’s gift to the Philippines and erect posters for themselves. How are we, the ordinary citizen, able to prevent their heads from swelling and inculcate in them the humble attitude of a public servant?
Lester, I get your point but we all need to continuously criticize politicians — specially those with good track records since by virtue of this track record, they have a better shot at higher offices. I think this vetting process is helpful in choosing leaders. In any case, you don’t flog a dead horse.
The pink itself is already an eyesore. Has nobody ever pointed out to BF just how garish his projects look? Ech.
No Pochero,
The need is to credit where credit is due and criticize where criticism is due. Filipinos like you LOVE to DWELL in criticisms.
It’s the only way you’d ever convince yourself that the Philippines is a hopeless godforsaken country, and “it’s not your fault, it’s everyone elses”.
We love the self-deprecation so much because it absolves us of our personal responsibility to be part of the solution.
Jon, I beg to differ. And there’s no need to make this personal. Filipinos like me love to dwell in criticism? Talaga? Pano mo nalaman yun? Kilala mo ba ang katauhan ko? Stick to the issues. I wrote that we need to criticize even the good ones. What’s wrong with that? I did not write to criticize for criticism’s sake. We criticize to make the target better himself. Kasi sayang nga yung mga mabuting nagawa niya kung masisira lang sa ibang kakulangan niya.
Regarding Schumey’s statement…
…i have a hunch that Bayani Fernando once watched that episode of That’s Incredible back in the 70’s where violent prisoners appeared to have calmed down after they were put into rooms that were painted pink. What he forgot was that later in that episode, the prisoner became violent again so the conclusion (of the show’s hosts) was pink soothes the emotions only during the first fifteen minutes but has the opposite effect afterwards. In which case, maybe if he continues painting the town pink, Fernando will pave the way for the long anticipated social explosion.
Anyway, based on the interior deco left behind by fleeing dictators, someown wrote that gaudiness and despotism go hand in hand.
Pochero,
Your operative word is continuous. The correct operative word is objective.
We have to be objective in viewing the works of politicians so we may either give credit or criticize, where appropriate.
Continuous criticism is precisely the disease that Filipinos have, and I believe that our lack of progress is in a great part (not necessarily entirely) because of continuous criticism, the never-ending quest to find fault instead of solutions.
[…] agree with Schumey about MMDA Bayani Fernando. He’s all pomp and no show. He’s your average joker, the […]
Jon, you may be right. I should have chosen a better word. I just meant that even if a politician is doing good, he should not be immune to criticism. Sure, BF has done a lot of good. But does that mean it’s ok to plaster his image all over EDSA? On the other hand, does that mean that we have to genuflect in front of his image? And I don’t think continuous criticism is a disease of the Filipino. Everyone’s a critic.
Pochero,
I absolutely abhor those posters. As I stated in the other entry, BF should be held accountable for appropriating MMDA funds for campaign materials, which those posters essentially are.
Okey, let us be objective for once. Let’s analyze what BF has done in Metro Manila and see if at all, those programs or projects have resulted in solving the problems:
1. On traffic. Yes, I think that travel time has lessened from Makati to Quezon City. From an hour and a half, it has been reduced to 1 hour and 10 minutes. Sounds good, if you’re travelling on a Saturday.
2. On pedestrian traffic. Those steel bridges have been credited in regulating people traffic. People use those bridges and walk in those steel cages along pedestrian lanes more than before. Okey lang if MMDA rakes in 15 million pesos for every bridge and 7 million pesos for every steel cage. Okey lang if it’s overpriced monstrosities, for as long as it works?
3. On concrete barriers along EDSA. Yup, that’s good. Buses are now using them. Okey lang if it caused so many casualties. Okey lang if some of our friends already died from it. They’re drunk anyway, says MMDA. They should pay the price of being drunk or having problems in their eyesight. If you’re not a good night driver, pasensya ka.
4. On those posters. Okey lang if BF was asked to become MMDA poster boy. We are praising him anyway, for those steel bridges, for those steel cages and those concrete barriers. That’s a small tribute for making sense out of nonsense.
Patricio,
Very beautiful strawman arguments. They are very, very objective indeed.
My turn to be objective:
1. Get rid of the buses. Not all of them, just around, oh, 75%.
And yes, the MMDA’s anti-colorum drive might be an indication that they’re trying to do their jobs. Are they?
Oh no, they could NOT possibly doing their jobs. That just doesn’t *sound* right, nor does it sound possible!
2. Add the number of train cars for the MRT.
Oops, but that’s not on MMDA’s budget, is it?
3. Extend the LRT2 to Antipolo and the LRT1 to San Pedro Laguna
So that yes, we can get rid of ALL those buses. Now na!
4. Get rid of those pedestrian overpasses.
It is better for the citizenry to cross anywhere they wish and cause traffic and be involved in accidents and die (oh wait, that’s the concrete barriers’ fault!) rather than let a single person profit from pedestrian overpasses.
Doesn’t matter if we only believe that that person profited, or if nobody is bringing the case to court, just bring those symbols of corruption down!
5. Get rid of those concrete barriers
Just shoot on sight every bus driver that drives his bus out of its lane and sticks it behind in such a way that the bus occupies 2 to 3 lanes. 10 lashes to the bus driver that keeps on waiting for passengers for more than 30 seconds.
These sound good to you, Patricio?