Huli ka!

And don't forget to clean up all your fireworks debris from your streets!

Photo credit: Aaron Favila

A major traffic jam was formed yesterday on southbound EDSA after one of the lanes on the Magallanes flyover was closed due to the discovery of cracks and holes on the Pasay-bound side of the bridge. Although the cracks were supposedly first discovered by a group of DPWH bridge engineers at 8am during a routine inspection, the lane was only closed at 11am when local policemen noticed the damage. However, Engr. Oscar Cammayo, chief of the DPWH’s 2nd Metro Manila Engineering District, claims that the 40-year old bridge is still structurally sound.

Wonder what kind of inspection they could have done in a few hours to claim that the bridge is still sound? Considering the pounding that the bridge takes everyday and the possibility of earthquakes, wouldn't a more in-depth investigation be called for?

MMDA Chair Bayani Fernando has announced that the MMDA has done well in the past year, claiming that the U-turn slots, bus loading bays and the strict enforcement of traffic regulations have contributed greatly to the easement of traffic on EDSA. According to the agency's statistics, the average speed on EDSA has risen 50%, from 21.11 km/hr to 31.88 km/hr, since 2003. Also, he says that new programs such as the Organized Bus Route system and the installation of 200 wireless surveillance cameras on EDSA will also bring about more improvements to the traffic flow in the coming year.

We're sure that everything they've done has contributed to the slight improvement in the traffic situation, but they can do so much more. For example, instead of catching yellow lane violators or smoke belchers, why not concentrate enforcement on those buses that load and unload outisde of the loading bays? These guys are a major source of traffic. Why not try and reduce the number of vehicles on the road? There are still tons of coding violators (for God's sake, don't let them go after you've caught and ticketed them. They're not supposed to be on the road so make them leave their vehicle until coding is over!) or vehicles with expired registrations. They should also push to reduce the number of buses since occupancy levels are quite low. As for their U-turn slots, are we the only ones who notice that they actually force vehicles to swerve sharply to the right after they make the turn?

Anyways, enough ranting. What do you guys think?

In preparation for the big New Year countdown party to be held on Ayala Ave./Makati Ave., here's a confusing article from ABS-CBN News regarding the rerouting in Makati starting on what we assume is December 31 (as the article made no mention of the date).

Bottom line? Avoid the following roads:
- Ayala Ave. from EDSA until Salcedo St.
- Makati Ave. from Arnaiz Ave. (formerly Pasay Rd.) until Paseo de Roxas

You might want to avoid de la Rosa St. and Paseo de Roxas as well, as they plan to make those into a parking lot.

Happy New Year!

Toll fees for the Coastal Road and STAR tollways are scheduled to rise on January 1, 2009. According to the TRB, the rate hike is justified as the last hike was implemented 2 years ago.

Based on this article, the new rates will be as follows:

Coastal Road
- Class 1 vehicles or cars: P22 (from P18)
- Class 2 or light trucks and buses: P43 (from P36)
- Class 3 or heavy trucks: P65 (from P54)

STAR (Southern Tagalog Arterial Road) Stage 1 - Santo Tomas to Lipa
- Class 1 vehicles or cars: P29 (from P24)
- Class 2 or light trucks and buses: P58 (from P47)
- Class 3 or heavy trucks: P87 (from P71)

STAR Stage 2 - Lipa to Batangas City
- Class 1 vehicles or cars: P26 (from P20)
- Class 2 or light trucks and buses: P52 (from P40)
- Class 3 or heavy trucks: P77 (from P60)

Toll fees for the NLEX, SLEX, Skyway and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway will however remain unchanged.

Wonder what the basis for the rate hike is? Most likely it is the increase in prices in general. Oil may have gone down a lot, but that still has to be reflected in the prices of everything else.

Photo credit: nevan.net

PGMA has declared January 2 as a special non-working holiday. This means that coding will automatically be suspended on this day.

Enjoy the long break!

SeaOil, UniOil and Flying V all implemented rollbacks on Christmas eve. SeaOil and Flying V cut P1 for both gas and diesel, while UniOil by P5-P7 and P4 for gas and diesel, respectively.

Although there is no news of a rollback from the Big 3, Shell did announce that they will match SeaOil and UniOil prices in locations where these companies have stations.

Hay naku! The Oil Deregulation Law really is a dismal failure. Competition between the oil companies, which was one of the major goals of deregulation, is practically non-existent since the new players represent a small percentage of the total number of stations.

The MMDA has announced that coding will be lifted from December 25 to January 1. Unfortunately, based on the lack of any mention of December 24, it is assumed that coding will still be in effect on that day.

Shouldn't they be the first ones to follow the letter of the law?
Anyway, wonder how they lost the plate in the first place?

This is the third sighting this month. This guy was seen heading south on SLEX approaching the Alabang viaduct. His license plate was extremely faded but using Photoshop, we were able to make the plate number pop out. Looks like PH-6998.
Lemme see. First, no helmet. Second, the backrider is not from the PNP. Third, the plate number is faded. Three strikes and you're out!

Anyway, there was an old post here regarding a press release of then PNP Chief Avelino Razon regarding the PNP's motorcycle use policy, but the link in that post doesn't seem to work anymore. However, we've managed to capture a screen shot from the Daily Tribune of the same press release so we're posting it here.
Sure hope that the current PNP chief Jesus Verzosa takes action on these guys. They need to shape up if they want our respect.

Here's a pic of the Guadalupe bridge, before and after they removed the provincial bus stop.
Sino naman ang engot na nagisip na maglagay ng bus stop sa tulay? Siguro natanggal na sa trabaho 'yun.

FAIL!

Hahahaha! Always wanted to say that. =)

The Big 3 (Shell, Petron and Chevron) and Eastern Petroleum has announced a P2 per liter rollback on gas, diesel and kerosene products earlier today. SeaOil also announced that it will rollback diesel by the same amount. The rollback will take effect 12:01am tomorrow, Saturday, December 20.

Any hope for another one before the year ends?

Saw this jeep, with plate no. SBW-589, make an illegal left turn from EDSA-southbound to Santolan heading towards Katipunan last night.
Like we've mentioned before, they should really put a 24-hour video cam on this intersection.

Hindi pa pala patay yung provincial bus stop project. Here's a shot of the one in front of Megamall, taken last night. Looks like it'll eat up one of the non-yellow lanes.

Makati City will again be monitoring and apprehending taxi drivers who refuse passengers, charge extra or engage in "pangongontrata", with the reactivation of their Oplan Isnaberong Tsuper.

To report violations, please contact the following numbers:
- Makati Command Center hotline 168
- 870-1920
- 870-1923
- 870-1926
- 870-1929
- 870-1932
- 870-1935
- 870-1955
- 870-1950
- 870-1951
- 899-8879

Ang daming numbers naman. Sana prinogram na lang nila sa PBX nila para isang number na lang ang kelangan tandaan. Hehehe.

Anyway, it's pretty weird that Makati has their own version of this. The LTO already has Oplan Isnabero, so wouldn't it have been better to just support that program so that complaints can be handled by the organization that controls the franchises and driver's licenses? It's still good, though, as it puts more pressure on these taxis to play good.

Small-time player Jetti announced a rollback of P1 and P2 per liter for diesel and gas, respectively, effective today. No news from any of the other oil companies on whether they'll follow suit.

Slow news day.

Effective today, the minimum fares for P7.50 for jeeps and P9.00 for buses. Also, the P10 add-on for taxi fares has been removed. Check out this article from GMANews.TV for more details.

Recently noticed that the provincial bus stop on the Guadalupe bridge has disappeared. So what happened? Not that we're complaining. It was a really stupid idea to begin with.

Anyway, here's a shot of the one at Guadalupe taken last December 6. Hope they do disappear permanently.

The Big 3 announced a P1 per liter rollback on gasoline, diesel and kerosene effective Friday, December 12.

Ang cheap naman! We want our P10 rollback!

Here's a quick rundown of links regarding the rerouting in Makati's CBD for the interfaith, anti-Charter Change rally to be held tomorrow, December 12, 2008, from noon to 10pm:
1. Advisory from Makati's Department of Public Safety
2. Article from Inquirer.net

Bottom line here is Ayala Avenue will be closed off for most of the day, so expect traffic to affect all the major thoroughfares leading to it. Unless you plan to join the rally, we suggest you just avoid the area completely.

Saw a couple of vehicles ignore the no left turn sign in this intersection last Sunday afternoon. First was a Toyota Lite Ace with plate no. TFC-231. A Hyundai Tucson ('ata) with plate no. ZRX-778 followed it immediately after.
There was also a taxi as well, but we weren't able to capture a picture of it. Binubusinahan na nga sila ng ibang tao at nanghaharang ng mga dumederetso, pero di lang man nila pinapansin.

Anyway, they should really put a 24-hour camera to monitor this intersection. Sobrang dami ang sasakyan na nag-i-ignore ng traffic light and no left turn signs. Sadly, karamihan pa d'yan ay mga PNP na papunta o nanggagaling sa Krame.

Saw these guys last Sunday, December 7, on EDSA.
The van, which didn't have a rear license plate, was full of PNP. And the cop trailing them on his bike (license plate no. 4748-PG) didn't have a helmet. Tadtad pa ng police stickers yung mga sinasakyan nila.

Nananawagan po kay Director General Razon. Paki linis naman ng inyong bakuran para makita ng taong bayan na seryoso kayo sa pagpatupad ng inyong tungkulin.

Just in case we forget, December 26, 29 and 31 have all been declared as special non-working holidays. So, following standard UVVRP guidelines, coding will be suspended during these dates. This means that starting Christmas Day until New Year's Day, everyone can use their vehicles all they want to go where they want at any time they want (tama ba english n'un?). Of course, some mayors may have a penchant to "go against the tide" so we'll keep you posted.

Anyway, click here to see a PDF of Proclamation No. 1463 from Malacanang.

P.S. Unfortunately, no announcement regarding December 24 has been made. But keep your fingers crossed!

Hanggang ngayon, hindi pa din naaayos 'tong kanto ng Santolan at C. Benitez.
Nung Enero pa 'to unang na-report dito sa Huli Ka!, pero hanggang ngayon sira pa din.

May tulo kasi 'ata yung tubo ng Manila Water dito. Naka-ilang beses na sila nag-re-repair dito, pero di pa din maayos. Sana naman magawa na ng mabuti 'to.

Ha! Huli ka!

Check out this bike cop on a Sunday ride with what I assume is his son. It's good that he values his son's life, but he's in violation of at least two rules that I know of.
Anyway, the bike's plate number is SL3680 and the side marking is 33. Hope this guy get's reprimanded 'cos we're all sick and tired of seeing cops breaking the rules instead of enforcing them.