WHEN it rains, it pours. That’s a tired cliché, as tired as the corruption charges hurled left and right at the haplessly woeful Binay family.
Although clichés are writing’s worst weapons, it can’t be helped but to use them—at times.
I hate clichés, actually. They are retrogressive; in short, anti-progressive. Since they do not enrich the language, they stunt creative growth.
But then, there are clichés apt for the occasion—such as the first line of this column.
I will refer that cliché to Toyota…Toyota again? Yes.
The world’s No. 1 carmaker has smashed records anew, establishing sales marks in the country in the successive months of April and May.
Already the Triple Crown winner 13 straight years in the passenger, commercial vans and overall sales, Toyota’s Vios broke existing milestones in back-to-back months.
Vios sold a record 2,886 units in April, the highest for any single model in the entire history of the industry. That was followed by a gigantic overall total sales leap of 10,511 units in May, a 15 to 1 percent jump over the same month in 2014.
And when piled up year-to-date, Vios units sold has reached 47,794 in this year’s first five months, well above the 46,062 sold from January to May in 2014. That is an astonishing 19.3-percent growth.
And to think that the Vios was introduced only in July 2013. And, yes, it is a locally manufactured Toyota car at that. If there are still doubting Thomases out there about the country’s ability to produce vehicles of world quality, I’ll be damned.
Isn’t it only a while back that Toyota sold a total of 1 million units in the country since the company’s revival in 1989?
With Toyota, indeed, one can never go wrong. As a friend of mine once said, “Once a Toyota engine gets started, it will stop humming only when someone switches off the ignition key. A Toyota will keep on running up to the ends of the Earth, stopping only when the driver decides to.”
Seized with joy once again, Michinobu “The Rocker” Sugata, the president of Toyota Motor Philippines, said: “Toyota achieving a new sales record last May is proof once more of the continued strong demand for our vehicles, having already sold 10,000 units last March and again in May. This is a solid testament of the trust and confidence of the consumers in continuously choosing our products.”
I can only agree.
Uber and Grab Car
No doubt the Uber and Grab Car vehicle business is good for the public, mainly because it is efficient, clean and offers tremendous comfort to its patrons. My wife, after riding in one, even received a beautiful t-shirt for free, with the words boldly emblazoned: “I want it fast!”
She said to me: “I was also given seven free rides as part of their promotion.”
Cool, indeed.
However, the issue of the system’s legitimacy, if not legality, is now the object of Congress through the Technical Working Group of the House’s Committee on Transportation, ordering the stoppage of Uber and Grab Car immediately in the interest of public safety. The system’s drivers are “bogus,” said Congress, in that they aren’t licensed to drive public-utility conveyances.
The Uber and Grab Car are under the Alternative Transportation Network Vehicle Service, which offers the public rides through a phone call and a vehicle of the latest model; virtually a brand-new vehicle is dispatched in a snap to the hirer.
It is good business and beneficial to the public, no doubt about that. But the problem is, the business is unregistered. Therefore, it is not paying taxes due to the government. Likewise, it offers unfair competition to taxi operators who, unlike Uber and Grab Car owners, follow the law to the letter.
Thus, if we are to level the playing field, let us stop Uber and Grab Car until their legal papers for lawful operation are approved by the Land Transportation Office and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.
Slex all the way to Bicol
I like House Bill 4746 filed by Catanduanes Rep. Cesar Sarmiento, mandating that South Luzon Expressway (Slex) goes all the way from Magallanes, Makati, to Matnog, Sorsogon.
Indeed, why not?
Already, the Slex-Toll Road 4 (TR-4) from Santo Tomas, Batangas, to Lucena has already been approved for construction by San Miguel Corp. through its South Luzon Tollways Corp., which operates Slex.The 58-kilometer, four-lane TR-4 worth P13.10 billion, when completed in 2019 (it starts construction January 1, 2016), will cut travel time by almost two hours from Makati to Lucena.
Imagine having TR-4 extended all the way to Sorsogon, and automatically making it the jumping board to the Visayas and Mindanao. Definitely, it will open huge business opportunities and trigger unprecedented growth down South.
Let’s do it, your honors.
PEE STOP. Greg Yu of Mercedes-Benz had just done something good that made the world singing on a string—via the magic of guitars. From the goodness of his heart, he recently donated several Spanish guitars to students musically-inclined; to those close to Greg, they know the guitar is Greg’s passion—his collection of guitars is world-class…My family’s deepest condolences to the loved ones of Mother “Tiger” Lily Rianzares Andolong, the mother of my first boss here, Popong (hubby of my current boss, Sweetie Tet). Tiger, a two-time Famas president and possessed of a fierce pen with her columns at the pre-martial law Manila Times, was the undisputed “Godmother” at the National Press Club (NPC) of the Philippines for decades. Personally, I will miss her—one of NPC’s genuine sigas of substance.
1 comment
Al Mendoza’s dream of extending SLEX to Matnog, Sorsogon will end up just reverie. There is no economic justification at this point in time to invest in this money losing proposal. The Manila to Matnog proposed railways which is up for NEDA’s approval should be the top priority. Instead of driving your car to Matnog, why not just attach it to the vehicle carriage of the Bicol Express when operational. In Matnog, get on a roro to any port in the Visayas. It saves you on gas and driving stress and toll fees. We should employ more critical thinking here.