jump to navigation

On MMDA Methods and Experiments August 15, 2008

Posted by Martin in : Propositions, Relevant Reading , 1 comment so far

Recently, a whole flurry of Ateneans have been all worked up by the MMDA’s seemingly pointless experiments with the traffic rules of Katipunan road. Apparently, most accuse the MMDA of being inconsiderate and simply stupid for tinkering what they think is “working fine“.

But is it? Can one truly assert that the traffic condition Katipunan, and, by extension, the entirety of Metro Manila is “fine“?

It seems to me that the MMDA’s critics are quick to jump on any provisions that the MMDA lays out to give some semblance of order, but they rarely, if ever, even second guess their own contribution to the mess.

Can one really think that the MMDA  puts concrete barriers, pink fences, and signs apparently written by Captain Obvious in the middle of the city’s roads simply for the lulz? If you don’t know, many of the MMDA’s employees are engineers. Scientists. They are likely, if not assuredly, to have a sufficiently rational, but not necessarily ethical reason for their now-radical methods in ensuring compliance to the law; I have a theory to explain their behavior.

They’ve simply run out of ways to get drivers and pedestrians to obey the law. They think we need to be spoon-fed. They think that pedestrians actually need to be told that getting hit by a car is dangerous. And really, who can blame them, when we live in a culture where one can execute a U-turn four lanes away from the slot? Indeed, there’s even a sign at Macapagal Highway that states: “Stop when the light is red.” This is not to say that what they’re doing is right, but I’m saying there simply is no other feasible way.

I assert that the primary, indisputable cause of traffic in Katipunan and elsewhere is not the MMDA; rather, it is the drivers that are the culprit in this situation. And how can this be, do you ask? Top Gear Philippines’ July 2008 issue featured an article entitled “Survival of the Safest”, which listed twelve reasons as to why the Philippine traffic situation is generally screwed. And these were the first three listed reasons:

1. Filipino drivers are not properly trained.

2. We are always in a hurry.

3. We have no discipline.

I shan’t go into the details; I’d rather have you guys grab a copy yourselves. So indeed, it is the driver that is first to blame. Infrastructure, enforcement, and other factors come in after that.

 

So, on to the traffic situation in Katipunan. The MMDA’s most recent changes include the ban of tricycles on Katipunan, by citing the road as a major thoroughfare, and the extension of the concrete barriers near Gate 2, such that those coming from the flyover will be forced to enter the Ateneo from Gate 3; although, if some students are real assholes, they’d make an illegal U-turn and execute a counterflow the first chance they get, but I digress.

Abolishing trikes is indeed a radical maneuver that will bring about changes to most of the trike-riding Katipunan-dwellers, including myself. But I do consider it acceptable in the interest of loosening up traffic, since after all, Katipunan is technically  part of C-5, which is a highway - tricycles are illegal in such thoroughfares. Their slow speed and often - I heavily stress often - reckless maneuvers in the heat of traffic heavily contribute to rush hour jams. Indeed, a U-turn slot was often held up due to an amazingly long line of tricycles entering the U-turn from the outer lane.

The simultaneous closing of the U-turn slot near Gate 2 as well as the extension of the concrete barriers in its vicinity holds some good arguments in its favor. It is given that those that come from the service road are not all going to Ateneo - arguably most of them are simply passing through. However, they have obstacles to overcome. The first and the lesser is the long line of Ateneans queuing up to get into Gates 1 and 2 - an already time-consuming task. But the second, and much more frustrating task, is to deal with the massive build up of vehicles near Gate 2 that come not only from the service road, but from the flyover. Technically, those that come from the flyover swerve to get to Gate 2, and since most drivers don’t understand the concept of lining up, they take up anywhere from 2 to 4 lanes in their efforts to get into the Ateneo. This is where the U-turn slot in Gate 2’s vicinity comes in - the concrete barriers that serve to create an easy U-turn by blocking 2 lanes the Ateneo side’s traffic gives a very small funnel for northbound vehicles to maneuver. What does this result in? Ubertraffic. Thus, the MMDA closes the U-turn, and extends the barriers to prevent swerving and clogging.

Try and observe the traffic. In the past, leaving at 6.30 for my 7 a.m. class spelled doom. That’s not the case anymore.

 

Overall, don’t pin it all on the MMDA. It’s us drivers that have more of a share in this mess than they do; the quick, closed-minded criticism of MMDA policy blinds one to one’s own faults.

Lulz at NSTP Processing Session #1 August 15, 2008

Posted by Martin in : General Rants, Religion/Atheism , add a comment

Our very first NSTP processing session took place last Wednesday at a variety of venues, since no room was officially reserved for us. Adventurous, no?

For those who don’t know, NSTP stands for National Service Training Program; this was formulated to apparently stimulate a more holistic development of civilian nationalism that the ROTC program was only partly successful in instilling.

Now, the lulz. The facilitator mandated that opening and closing prayers be led by randomly chosen students every session. Sure, no problem there. The Ateneo, after all, is a Catholic institution. But then she blurts out that:

sana naman walang atheist dito, diba?

I lol’d.

She’s in for a surprise.

Theology Class June 21, 2008

Posted by Martin in : General Rants, Religion/Atheism , add a comment

A few high school classmates of mine were talking about their respective theology classes one day, and one of their stories rather piqued my interest.

He asked the professor if the existence of god can be proven, and if possible, how. The professor was then taken aback for a moment, but s/he managed to muster the powerful argument from grades.

If you haven’t figured that out by the end of the semester, you’ll fail this class.

Talk about motivation. My curriculum dictates that theology be deferred for one semester in favor of a Philosophy 100 class, so I haven’t had the luxury of being so exquisitely threatened. I’m looking forward to theology class. Intellectual sparring, ho!

Proposal: Start Something April 2, 2008

Posted by Martin in : Relevant Reading, Religion/Atheism , 3comments

Comrade Gab Madrid and I have a proposal. We ought to start something.

This is an Imperial Repost from the Empire-operated Spoliarium.

I’ve recently found out that they have come up with an official symbol/logo for atheism and freethought. If the xtians have a cross, we have this.

That’s from http://www.atheist-symbol.info and according to that,

Atheists Alliance International is an umbrella
organization for a large number of atheist,
humanist, freethought groups around the world.
At their 2007 conference, attendees were asked
to vote for their favorite atheist symbol from
among 6 choices which had been determined
by a committee.

The winner is the symbol above.

This symbol is not the symbol of AAI or of any of
its member organizations. It is meant to be a
generic symbol of freethought for the world.

I’ve thought of a way spread this symbol and the idea entailed with it by creating stickers mostly with atheist URLs attached so that awareness about atheism is spread more widely somehow.

For hi-res and individual images, please click here. http://lagim214.multiply.com/photos/album/142

Please pass this article on, and maybe we could start something.

Indeed, I am passing this article on in the hopes of starting something.

Divine Mercy Sunday March 31, 2008

Posted by Martin in : Religion/Atheism , 2comments

I’ve received an unusually large number of junk mail over the past few days. Perhaps it is God’s will that believers send out large amounts of propaganda in the hope that the poor bastards from that other religion will buy it. But whatever.

Upon inspection, however, I found that all of the junk contained the same message concerning this Divine Mercy Sunday.

Apparently, all other days aren’t as merciful.

Divine Mercy Sunday

Hello all do you know that this Sunday after Easter is Divine Mercy
What this means is that whoever goes to confession and receives
communion on that day will have complete forgiveness of sin and
punishment; as if you’ve been baptized again!

Technically you may go to confession in some earlier time like
tommorow,as long as you know that you’ve not committed mortal
sin after. Anyway this is a great way to totally renew our
relationship with God and make it better than before. And all we have
to do is sincerely confess our sins, take communion, and if possible,
venerate the Divine Mercy image that Sunday. AND of course we should
also do acts of mercy.

 

So please spread the word about this wonderful Feast. For more
information you may want to see:
http://www.divinemercysunday.com/mercy_sunday.htm

 

Thank You and God bless!

 

Dear God.

And then Sunday came to pass. I thought this little affair was over, but no. Everyone deserves a second chance.

 

 

Hey Good news! If you weren’t able to fulfill the requirement for
Divine Mercy Sunday, you can still gain a plenary indulgence if you do
practically the same thing. That is, if in about twenty days after the
feast, you go to confession sincerely, take Communion, pray for the
Pope’s intentions and pray the Our Father and the Apostle’s Creed
adding any devout prayer of your own to Jesus the Divine Mercy in any
place where the Blessed Sacrament is (ie. the church or adoration
room). As with all plenary indulgences, you should do this act
contritely with a spirit detached with any affection for sin, even
venial ones. But don’t worry it’s not as hard as it sounds =).

Anyway, for more information you can check:

 

http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/indulgence.htm

 

Ugh. I strongly detest bullshit spam messages. Especially those of the religious nature. What, do they think that five hundred repetitions of the same argument will make it more truthful than one repetition of the said argument?

 

Keep your beliefs to yourself, please.