BY JOHNNY NOVERA
LAST week we wrote about the idea for Iloilo to send a mission to Metro Manila and invite corporate groups there to transfer their headquarters to Iloilo.
We cited the strategic location of Iloilo as the center of the Philippine archipelago and the availability of good infrastructure here — with better airports, seaport and roads.
We just read of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano’s formula to decongest Metro Manila streets, which by coincidence is along our idea of focusing attention to the country’s rural areas and their economies.
“There is simply no more space in Metro Manila for physical expansion,” he said, “and what must be done now is to allot more funds for infrastructure programs to other regions.”
Another observation came from former senator Francisco “Kit” Tatad who writes an opinion column in a national daily. We quote him in part: “Metro Manila is a permanent traffic jam. Getting to Heaven, quips a wag, is now easier for a reprobate than for a law-abiding citizen to get an MRT ride. Power blackouts turn daytime into midnight.
“Going through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1, you will see the facility all boarded up like a refugee camp. It should have been withdrawn from public use while undergoing renovation, but this anachronism sits there to torment every passing investor or tourist …”
He also challenged PNoy to deplane at NAIA 1 when he arrives from abroad, and stop by the comfort rooms before “immigration.”
He continued: “The first thing that would greet him there is a couple of uniformed middle-aged women standing by the door of the men’s and women’s rooms, each with a broom and a dustpan, while a third woman stands closely by, with an empty pail, a rag and a brush. We have just won, it seems, the race back to primeval times!”
With the foregoing conditions prevailing in Metro Manila, we should push now with our idea of campaigning for corporate groups to consider moving their headquarters to Iloilo, maybe with some tax incentives to boot? (For comments or reactions, please e-mail to jnoveracompany@yahoo.com)/PN
