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INSTEAD
of cursing the heavy traffic that we encountered right
in front of the Ever Gotesco Mall in Cainta on Sunday,
this writer’s family decided to laugh it off and stay
cool despite the searing heat of the afternoon sun.
My wife
Cecil together with our three kids—Juan Raphael, Juan
Carlos, and Juan Miguel—decided to play a guessing game
as we inched and fight our way through what was a
bottleneck on our way to Mandaluyong following a
fun-filled family day at the TeleTech office in
Robinsons Cainta.
We
didn’t know who the current mayor was of the said place,
so we decided to look around. Atop the elevated walkway
showed the name of Pasig Mayor Vicente Eusebio, while
one at the close end of the bottleneck was Cainta Mayor
Mon Ilagan’s. Another sign nearby showed a big business
facility supposedly owned by the current Metropolitan
Manila Development Authority chairman.
Guessing
who among them was the mayor was just one part of the
puzzle. The other was finding out who was actually
responsible for untangling and solving the almost daily
heavy traffic in the said place.
No
traffic enforcers were seen at the end of the bottleneck
where digging was taking place. That Sunday gridlock was
so bad that it took us almost one hour to pass through
that narrow stretch of road. It isn’t hard to imagine
what traffic is like in that place during rush hours.
It’s
about time the authorities do something about it. The
traffic can be solved if they really want to. Erecting
an elevated or underground highway is one way to
eliminate or minimize the bottleneck. Similar problems
in other parts of the metropolis (such as at the corner
of Edsa and
Quezon Avenue)
have already been addressed.
Will the
real mayor in the said place please stand up and explain
the continued gridlock?
****
IF you
haven’t visited the ongoing Manila International Auto
Show (Mias) at the World Trade Center (WTC), then, by
all means, go there now.
You have
until Sunday to see the various car displays and many
other things that are being offered in this year’s
event, which is aptly themed “Imagination in Motion.”
Our colleague Alvin Uy said that 22 car brands from 14
manufacturers were on display, making the Mias the venue
of choice for car launches, displays, club meets and
sales events. For 2008 the air-conditioned tent
adjacent to the main exhibition hall makes a comeback,
bringing the total indoor exhibition space to a
sprawling 15,100 square meters.
“In
cooperation with Lightspeed Philippines, it will also
premiere its Classic Car and Custom Car Competition. At
the same time, the first-ever Emma [European Mobile
Media Association] Sound Competition will be held with
drift queen Michelle Yu serving as one of the judges. Yu
is also the first female Emma-certified judge in Asia.
“World-renowned precision driver Russ Swift makes an
exclusive comeback with a bolder show featuring more
high-adrenaline car action. Racing aficionados can get
up close and personal with the all-new Godzilla—the No.
22 Motul-Pitwork 350Z JGTC—as well as a lineup of the
country’s fastest dragsters. More celebrity driver
appearances, miniconcerts, raffles and fashion shows are
just some of the activities. An outdoor café, as well
as an on-road and off-road test track greet the visitors
on the WTC lawn.”
****
THE
economic crunch prevailing in the United States today
has given rise to some ingenious ways to do business.
Several
companies in the used-car retail business are now using
a device in their sold cars—a little box mounted
underneath the dashboard that forces the buyers to make
their payments on time. A light on the plastic box
flashes when a payment is due. If the payment isn’t made
and the resulting code punched in to reset the box, the
vehicle won’t start. The next step is a visit from the
repo man.
The
devices were forerunners of those antitheft gadgets in
the ’90s that were based on radio-frequency
identification technology. More than 250,000 were
reportedly sold since 1999 and are being retailed for
$250 each. The box’s LED light starts blinking when a
payment is nearly due. On deadline day, the unit not
only blinks, but beeps. When the customer makes the
payment, the lender gives them a six-digit code to enter
into the box.
The
latest enhancement couples the keypad to a global
positioning device. Not only will the car’s starter
automatically shut off, but a message will go to the
loan holder with its location to make repossession
easier.
A rival
device vendor sells mostly wireless systems. Dealers can
access accounts through the Internet and send a message
to the device in the car as with a paging system. Again,
the car is shut down if payments are not made.
****
COLUMBIAN Autocar Corp. held its first-quarter golf
tournament at the Eastridge Golf and Country Club in
Binangonan, Rizal, participated in by its top officials
led by its CEO Felix Mabilog Jr. and other guests.
Eric
Arpilleda, who scored a net 67, was declared the
champion, with Mr. Cho of the Far East Chemicals, with a
net 69, emerging as the first runner-up. The second and
third runners-up were Manila Standard Today’s Jojo
Robles with a net 74 and Gil Tanquilot with a net 74.
The fun
and excitement-filled tournament is a quarterly event of
the company where its various top officials, suppliers
and guests are invited. |
