To: Mr. Bayani Fernando
Chairman, MMDA

Dear Mr. Fernando,

I can’t help but wonder why floods are still everywhere within the Metro Manila area during a down pour, even if your office had already spent millions of tax payer’s money cleaning the estero’s and rehabilitating the pumping stations. I grew up in the same street where I am living now, and I can only remember once or twice (at most) wherein our street got flooded due to heavy rains — take note, “heavy rains”.

But now, it is very much different: the entire street gets flooded after a 20-30 minute rain. No, I am not complaining because I am against you, but I do not see my money’s worth in the way your office handles flood control.

Another thing, was it really necessary to have your face posted in every tarpauline that your office will post in the streets? True public service need not to have a face — people need not to know who leads what agency or office, as long as they are doing their jobs (right). Same goes with the “BAYANI” stickers pasted on almost all buses plying the avenues of the metropolis — is it a necessity?

I am not sure if you are very much aware of how much each tarp poster or sticker cost, but I do not think they are helping in the improvement on how Metro Manila looks from the eyes of a citizen.

Thanks for your time reading this letter. More power, and I do hope to see less of MMDA tarps with your face in the very near future.

Best regards,

BobReyes.com


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert “Bob” Reyes is a technologist, an IT Consultant and Tech Speaker, a certified Google IT Support Specialist, and an Open Source advocate representing the global non-profit Mozilla (makers of Firefox) in the Philippines. Bob is a Technology Columnist for the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation and an aviation subject matter expert contributor for Spot.PH.

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27 thoughts on “An Open Letter to Bayani Fernando”
  1. I agree with you sir. In fact, I used to live around the Pasong Tamo area… and by golly the floods there are legendary and have been there forever! And to think there’s a canal right beside Pasong Tamo–underneath the Mile Long Compound! What the hell?!

    And you know what they did to ‘beautify’ Pasong Tamo? They put those little reflective studs on the street, from end to end… that’s supposed to help traffic and flooding how?

    I want to see receipts of their spending… I want to know where my tax pesos are going!

  2. You cannot always blame someone for everything that is happening on your place. If you think that BF can’t solve your problem then why don’t you guys find a way to solve it yourselves.

    It is annoying to see a politician’s face and name in a poster everywhere, but come to think of it, dont we have the right to remove those posters that makes our country more ugly.

    Our country is being manage by corrupt and heartless politicians and their families. We have to wake up and act for the better.

  3. Bob, why don’t you make a magic out of it? that way those floods will go away in a quick second or better sip it if you can with your mouth then maybe you will realize that controling flood is not that easy as counting 123…

  4. Hi Allen! Thanks for the suggestion. But before I consider it, why not unmasked your persona first? Try not to use a proxyfier the next time that you post a comment in my blog. Til next time, AH!

  5. Thanks for the comments, Jon! And guess what, he is also a contestant at the Celebrity Duets! Ang tagal pa ng election ah?

  6. From where I am living, floods definitely were diminished. Needless to say, solution to floods is your mayor’s responsibility.
    Apparently, our mayor works well with BF. However, in your place, does your mayor cooperate with him? Perhaps not. Now you know who to blame!

  7. 12.
    mike on Wednesday, October 1, 2008

    im a marikenyos,so i know what the phenomenon he done to our city…a cleanest,discipline,worldclass ,peacefully livelihood place.6yrs pa lang po ang mmda,pero ang dami nang magagandang accomplistment,na talaga nmang napakaepektibo.!!pasasaan pa’t makikita nila ang ginhawa ng magandang pagbabago ng metro manila,suportahan lng natin si(BF)at ipagdasal pa sa kanyang mga magagandang layunin sa bayan.sa mga honorable mayor ng metro manila…suportahan nlang po natin si chairman bayani fernando…magkaisa po kyo para rin nman sa ikakabubuti ng lahat.magtulungan, na para bang isang team ng liga…at sa bandang huli ay makukuha rin natin ang kampeonato…at makagrandslam pa diba?tigilan na po natin ang erehan,ang inggit,pagkamatigas ang ulo,iwasan na natin mag utak talangka…maging positibo!!!wag natin ibaba ang isang taong sa tingin natin ay maganda at malinis sa kanyang hangarin,alam natin na hindi sya ganun kasikat sa pilipinas pero nakita nman natin ang dedikasyon nya,umikot man sya sa buong pinas,makita ko man ang sticker nya ang tarpaulin poster nya,marami mang kumastigo at kumontra!!!wala akong pakialam!!!no big deal…dapat lang para mas lalong makilala at sumikat pa sya sa buong pinas,kung sa ikakaganda’t at pagunlad nman ng pilipinas ang hangarin nya.bakit hindi?sa ngyn kailangan ng pinas ang (BF)bagong fresidente,bagong finuno,bagong filipino,bagong fatakaran,bagong filipinas…IN BF WILL…IN GODS WILL…

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  8. It’s too sad that Bob’s attitude is showing like a real typical
    filipino. I think what you should do Bob, if you have anything good at all in your mind to avoid floodings, or if you have any better alternative to solve those flooding problems overnight, why don’t you make suggestions to BF instead of complaning, because whether you like it or not, the evidence is clear that BF is trying his best to make Metro Manila a better place to live for everyone. If you don’t agree with me, then I think it has something to do with your personal problem with BF that would mean simply because you don’t like him.

  9. @Mike, if you are hiding under the skirt of your @Tita, just stay there at Marikina. Sa inyo na si Bayani Fernando. I don’t need him.

  10. nagbabasa basa ako ng madaanan ko to.

    To those who are complaining,

    What Sir Bob is saying, he doesn’t see the relevance of using tax (our money) in printing tarps and stickers. Maybe for BF its just his part to show people that he does his work but not seeing funds that go to waste, everybody knows that the design of the sewage system in the Philippines is terrible but maybe if BF uses the money for correcting those instead of printing Tarps and stickers, maybe there’s going to be improvement. and one more thing Sir Bob’s opinion is his opinion and has the right to make one, just like most of you did.

  11. Sir i think hindi na po SAKOP ng Metro Manila Development Authority ang streets nyo jan sa lugar nyo. Ang alam ko sir trabaho na po ng Mayor nyo kung nag babaha man sa lugar nyo. dati din po d2 sa marikina laging baha, pero nung sinimulan po ni BF ang pag papalaki ng Drainage System noong Mayor pa sya d2 sa amin, NEVER na pong nag babaha dito.

  12. @TJ Thanks for visiting my site! Yah, I know that it is the City Mayor’s job to eliminate flood, if not control it. But what do the pink boys of MMDA doing in our street that time, and the fact that my dad even asked why they are making pakialam the drainage system means that BF and MMDA, for that matter, really made pakialam na the flood control in our city.

  13. I think it’s not just the tarps. Buses with EDSA routes also bear those “Bayani ng Kalsada” stickers which is a sign of early electioneering. I think Mr. Fernando should resign as early as now if he wants to run for higher office instead of using public resources. So taxpayers, consider the HUMAN RIGHTS Violations of MR. BAYANI FERNANDO before voting for him. He also pays for a consultant named Joseph in MMDA who doesnt do anything in the office but nag at employees. Chairman Fernando, is this where our taxes go?

  14. Sir Bayani Fernando you are doing great. Majority of OFWS are supporting you all the way to Malacanag. You are the best Government employee we ever have today and that’s a fact! Way to go Mr. President Fernando!

  15. Dear Bayani,

    I hope you read this because I will be publishing this, both in Tagalog (for the local audience) and English (for the international audience) in every blog and website dedicated to you.

    At about 9:30am in the morning of December 2, 2008, I was driving along C5 in Pasig headed towards Makati. I was on the second lane to the left and after passing Julia Vargas, my car’s engine suddenly died. I tried starting the engine a few times but it wouldn’t. So I switched on my hazard light, opened my window and waved at the drivers behind me to move ahead.

    A few minutes later, an MMDA tow truck arrived. I though, at last someone can assist me. An MMDA officer stepped down, and to my surprise, he blamed me for my car breaking down. He said, “You’re an obstacle! We have to tow your car! You will be fined P1,700 for the towing and a P500 ticket!”

    When we reached the gas station, he said, “It’s either we tow your car to the impounding station, where you will be fined P1,700 for the towing and a P500 ticket, or you can just pay P1,500 for towing your car to this gas station.”

    I asked him, “Why is there a fine and a ticket? Is it the person’s fault that his car breaks down?”

    He answered, “That’s just how it is, OK??”, in a nasty and threatening way. Is this the Courteous Service that you are bragging about?

    I understand that there is a towing fee, but I found it expensive to tow my car for P1,500 for not even half a kilometer to the gas station. So like any normal Filipino, struggling to earn a living, I chose to pay the cheaper option of P1,500. He didn’t even give me a receipt. He even asked me to break the P1,000 bill into two P500s, obviously to make it easier for them to divide the bribe. He left in a hurry before I can get his name, happy that he got a victim.

    This is when I realized why there are so many MMDAs on the road. It’s such a lucrative job. Instead of helping the people, they have ways to make money off them.

    Bayani, it’s common sense, if your car breaks down, is it your fault and should you be fined??

    We are the only country like this where a driver gets fined because his car breaks down. We all know that this is no isolated event. This is the same with the MMDAs who wait behind U-turn slots, waiting for someone to jump out of his lane, or the MMDAs who wait around the corner where there’s a traffic light, jumping on someone who makes a right turn during a red signal. Instead of waiting for violations, they should just be guiding drivers on what to do, and helping in the traffic! We, the taxpayers, support your existence, but instead, your officers find ways to milk us for all we’ve got. In the meantime, there are many reckless drivers, smoke belchers and private vehicles with police sirens who are still out there.

    Bayani, you are running for president in 2010. I was your fan and I would vote for you. But because of my experience with the MMDA, if you can’t even control the corruption in your organization, how can you control the corruption in the Philippines??

    Citizen Jose

  16. Your reaction is normal. I know. I also drive in the metro.

    Don’t pass on to the government your problem of inefficiency.

    Your ignorance is not an excuse. You’re not the first person I’ve heard complaining about this ruling.

    The road is just like an assembly line, an obstruction will prevent it from working efficiently. If you’re an obstruction, then sorry. Just make sure your car is in tip-top condition before you leave the garage. 🙂

  17. I have read some of the comments regarding MMDA and Chairman Bayani Fernando. I don’t want to make this a personal issue. It’s all about right and wrong and the decency to a responsible citizen. I grew up in the US and I now live n the Philippines. This is the first time I have seen the traffic scheme of a government agency implemented without testing the effectivity of such a move. All these u turn slots that build up traffic before the u turn have become a mojor headache to all. The people driving in the streets of Metro Manila have no discipline at all. It’s a free for all when you get to certain u turn slots as all the vehicles, in an effort to try to get ahead of everyone, take up the outermost lanes, clogging up the whole road, thus creating congestion just before the u turn slot. In the meantime, there a couple of vehicles that get through and there is virtually no traffic after the u turn slot. I am assuming these are the areas that MMDA has focused on, thereby bragging rights have been earned for a congestion free road. This is just one example among many. If I might suggest to Chairman Bayani Fernando, instead of trying to alter the streets of Metro Manila, why not institute a learning process and educate all licensed drivers on proper driving habits and etiquette. Not just Juan Driver, but ALL licensed drivers, including the SIR that drives occassionally.

    Thank you.

  18. Bob …”@TJ Thanks for visiting my site! Yah, I know that it is the City Mayor’s job to eliminate flood, if not control it. But what do the pink boys of MMDA doing in our street that time, and the fact that my dad even asked why they are making pakialam the drainage system means that BF and MMDA, for that matter, really made pakialam na the flood control in our city.”

    Isn’t that so ironic that Bob Reyes’ letter to Chairman Bayani Fernado is complaining about the consistent flood problem in their area, and here he is again complaining about the pinkboys participation who are only doing their job in easing floodings in their area, shouldn’t you be thankful that Chairman Fernando is doing something to ease the flood problem in your area since no one in your local government units doing it for you? Bob’s letter to Bayani is only showing his ARROGANCE and HYPOCRISY to the highest level and therefore not worthy to pay attention to.

  19. @smarty: Every specie — human or not — is entitled to an opinion. Thanks for visiting my site and PAYING ATTENTION to my post. No one in our place had ASKED for Bayani Fernando’s intervention to ease the flooding in our place. At the first place, there was NO flooding before in our place. You can tell Bayani to just go to hell and forget about 2010.

  20. ang basura minsan ang dahilan, try nyo wag magtapon sa kalsda o jeep etc.. hindi madadampot lahat yan ni bayani.magumpisa sa sarili natin pgcontrol ng baha. my problema din mayor nyo. magaling mayor nmin d2 eh tsaka disiplinado karamihanng tao.

  21. Hi Bob, I hope you are not burried by the flood’s mud, I hope your house is not burried by floodwaters, if you are and if it is, that’s what we call KARMA, you should blame Mr. Bayani Fernando again for that!

  22. @righton: Thanks for your concern! Our houses never had been “buried” by floodwaters ever since 1979. Tell that to Bayani Fernando. Karma came for him, but it was his people in Marikina who suffered.

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