Road Rage

(Originally published in the June 30 to July 6, 2013 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

YOUR Self-Propelled is throwing his support to fellow media practitioner EV Espiritu for rejecting an ‘areglo’ out of instant and obviously insincere apology from Frederick de Ausen Pati, the officer-in-charge of the Philippine Retirement Authority following a road altercation the other week.

EV was on his way home in Bakakeng Old Site when the taxi he took yielded to a speeding government vehicle driven by Pati who, road courtesy dictates, should have dimmed his headlights. But instead of politely accepting EV’s reminder to dim his glaring headlights, Pati --- obviously drunk --- yelled back: “Ano’ng problema mo?! Red Plate ito!”

Not satisfied, Pati got off his vehicle and confronted EV. “P__ang inamo! Kilala kita tagarito rin ako!,” Pati barked at EV. Pati then turned his ire to the taxi driver and repeatedly punched him in the face.

It could have been a different story if Pati had a gun.

As of this writing, EV has formally filed a complaint before the Civil Service Commission. Meanwhile, Pati, in a regional news television, said people should already stop making a big deal out of it because he already apologized to EV. Pati also said he already wrote a letter of apology which he coursed through Philippine Information Agency Cordillera Regional Director Helen Tibaldo. Much to her surprise, Ms. Tibaldo however finds her being dragged by Pati into the picture as unnecessary.

About a year ago, Self-Propelled had the chance to interview Pati who then bragged thatforeign retirees (including Filipinos themselves who may not necessarily relinquish their foreign citizenship) are attracted to the Philippines as their post-retirement homes (either seasonal or permanently) because of the Filipino’s innate friendly and hospitable traits.

“Baguio is still the best place to retire,” he said.

On the same week of that interview, Self-Propelled talked about road rage as a serious threat to public safety.

As an extreme case of aggressive driving, it can be unsafe, thereby threatening other motorists as well as pedestrians. Experts claim that traffic congestion may be considered as a contributing factor to driver frustration subsequently leading to road rage. It includes rude gestures, verbal insults, deliberately driving in an unsafe or threatening manner, or making threats, leading to verbal altercations, physical assaults, and collisions which result in injuries and even deaths.

  

As early as 1997, therapists in the US have been working to certify road rage as a medical condition. In fact, it is already an official mental disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

In a survey funded by the National Institute of Mental Health of some 9,200 adults in the US between 2001 and 2003, it concluded that “the behaviors typically associated with road rage are the result of intermittent explosive disorder”.

Sadly, there are no comprehensive road rage statistics in the Philippines. But we can cite some.

Last year, Robert “Blair” Carabuena, a resourcing supervisor of Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp., was caught on video by while mauling Metropolitan Manila Development Authority traffic enforcer Saturnino Fabros who called Carabuena’s attention for a wrong turn at the corner of Capitol Hills Drive and Tandang Sora in Quezon City.

On July 2, 1991, 25-year-old Eldon Maguan, a De La Salle University student, was driving his car down a one-way street in San Juan and nearly collided with Rolito Go's vehicle, which was traveling the wrong way. Go got off his car and shot Maguan who died a few days later.

Go was convicted in 1993 of murder in absentia after he escaped from the Rizal Provincial Jail before the sentencing. Go was finally caught in 1996 in Pampanga and then served his life imprisonment sentence at the New Bilibid Prison. Early this year, Go was transferred from the prison's maximum security facility to the minimum security area, allowing him to walk around the facility without security escorts. 

On November 18, 2009, 27-year-old Renato Victor Ebarle Jr.’s vehicle had nearly collided with another SUV driven by Jason Ivler on Santolan Road, Quezon City.

Ivler, 27, stepped out of his car with a diplomatic plate number and shot Ebarle three times at close range through the car's windshield and then escaped. Ivler’s SUV was later traced to Stephen Pollard, a British economist at the Asian Development Bank.

Ivler, the son of Pollard’s wife Marlene Aguilar (Freddie Aguilar’s sister) from a previous marriage, is “a highly trained soldier” from the US Special Operations command who had been sent to ‘risky’ missions in Iraq and who received an “honorable discharge” in October 2008. Ebarle is the son of an undersecretary for the Office of the Presidential Chief of Staff.

Another motorist, Manolito Cuya, said that the night before Ebarle was killed, that Ivler pointed a gun at him in Quezon City after he blew his horn at Ivler’s vehicle, saying: “Masuwerte ka may kasama kang mga bata. Pero pag nakita kita uli, papatayin na kita (You're lucky you have children with you. If I see you again, I'll kill you).” Cuya was with his wife, sister-in-law, daughter, and niece at the time.

Ivler also figured in a 2004 vehicular accident on the C-5 Ortigas flyover that killed Nestor Ponce, then Presidential Adviser for Resettlement, and injured Ponce’s wife and another passenger. Ivler posted bail and attempted to flee to Malaysia by boat. On January 18, 2010, he was arrested by NBI agents in his mother's home in Quezon City. Two NBI operatives were wounded after Jason instigated a shootout. Ivler sustained gunshot wounds in his right shoulder and in his abdomen that cut through his spleen and large intestines.

Also early last year, Customs Commissioner Paulino Elevado and his companion mauled a 20-year old student during a traffic altercation along the South Luzon Expressway. Elevado then shot at the student’s vehicle as he drove off in his PhP5-million Porsche.

On June 21, 2009, a traffic altercation turned into a deadly family feud, leaving six people dead.

The trouble started at a traffic jam on the Nueño Avenue in Imus, Cavite as Sowaib Salie repeatedly honked his vehicle's horns at the car in front driven by Raul Bautista. A confrontation erupted when both motorists arrived at the public market. Bautista then left the scene only to return with reinforcement. A burst of firefight left six people dead, including Bautista, his two sons and the family driver. Salie and his fellow trader Mahmod Sultan also died.

In 1998, Feliber Andres family's All Saints’ Day eve pilgrimage to the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina turned tragic when their vehicle nearly collided with the one driven by Inocencio Gonzalez.

Noel Andres tailed Gonzalez’ vehicle first before he cut his path which resulted in a confrontation between the two motorists. Gonzalez pulled out a gun and shot at the Andres’ vehicle, hitting Andres and his pregnant wife, their two-year old son, and their nephew. Feliber did not survive the attack but the doctors were able to save her baby. Gonzalez was found guilty of murder and two counts of frustrated murder in 1999. The Supreme Court then modified the 2001 trial court's decision, finding him guilty of homicide.

On January 10, 2003, Jay Llamas was traversing Taft Avenue when his car was bumped by a motorcycle. Llamas and the unnamed motorcycle driver got into a heated argument which ended when the suspect drew a gun and shot Llamas at close range three times --- twice in the head and once in the body.

On October 2, 2007, Edgardo Canizares was traveling with a passenger along Gen. Roxas Street near the corner of Shaw Boulevard when his Nissan Cefiro almost hit the car of Manuel Hernandez Jr., a Pasig City Hall legal officer and nephew of a Sandiganbayan Justice.

Hernandez was reportedly driving against the flow of traffic, prompting an angry Canizares to get out of his car and insult Hernandez. Hernandez pulled out a gun and shot Canizares four times and his passenger, twice.*

Driving while ‘intexticated’

(Originally published in the June 16 to 22, 2013 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

  

I TIMED my bicycle commuting this week with the school opening to again symbolize my private protest against the government’s inability to effectively address air pollution which has rendered Baguio and its neighboring town of La Trinidad as no longer conducive to recreational biking and commuting.

The worsening traffic situation is another. Until now, all the government is capable of are purely “experimental” solutions.

Let me touch also on the prevailing negative car culture.

Motorists remain the greatest hazard on the roads. Aggressive, hostile and anti-cyclist attitude continue. Many motorists mistakenly believe that their possession of a driver's license gives them a superior claim --- if not sole and exclusive ownership --- of the road over the cyclist. Such is the daily disparity on the road in a country of car culture like the Philippines and of a city like Baguio and the suburbs.

Practically nothing separates the biker from a hostile driver, totally unprotected, not even by the government. Unlike the biker, there is the windshield, the roll bars, the bumpers, the fenders and all those metals (sometimes including guns) to protect the driver from his fellow hostile drivers.

Because of their size, speed (even at low speed) and weight, cars carry an extremely high potential for causing lethal damage when negligently operated.

But those gas-burning behemoths cannot always be avoided and for cyclists to know how to cope with cars can be a matter of survival. Whether you are in the right or not, if you have too-close an encounter with a car, you lose. The car is unlikely to sustain any damage worse than a few dents while the cyclist will get some nasty injuries or damages.

Since the cyclist's  life is on the line in traffic, it is a must that he becomes as skillful as possible, makes judgments as fairly and control the situation as best as he can. He must not be timid and passive or submissive and easily gets intimated. He must be brave and assertive but without being reckless. Learning to ride safely in traffic is an essential skill. 

To date, the city government and our transport group leaders are yet to come up from their own initiative with long-term plans to mitigate aggressive or hostile driving habits and encourage courteous and safe road-sharing attitude among the motorists.

And when we say courteous and safe road-sharing attitude, it means the very basic driving habit of reducing speed when encountering cyclists, no tailgating and recognizing the hazards that cyclists may face and give them space.

I am yet to meet a motorist who would agree with me that bicycles are also considered vehicles and that cyclists should be given the appropriate right of way and should be allowed extra time to traverse intersections.

I am yet to meet a motorist who would agree with me to be considerate, scanning for cyclists in traffic and at intersections while blasting horn in close proximity to cyclists is a no-no and to be on the lookout for cyclists when opening doors.

I am yet to meet a motorist who would agree with me that when passing, he must leave at least four feet between him and the cyclist.

The Philippines remain as the undisputed Text Messaging Capital of the World.In 2003, the average Filipino mobile subscriber sent an average of 195 text messages per month or about 7 messages a day). In 2005, Filipinos sent on average 250 million text messages a day at 33 million subscribers. In 2006, Filipinos sent 350 to 400 million texts messages a day at 35 million users. In 2007, Filipinos sent a staggering 1.39 billion text messages at roughly 50 million users. In 2009, the trend continues at about 73 million subscribers. Worldwide, the annual total of text messages surged from 57 billion in 2005 to 1.8 trillion in 2010.

The advent of texting also saw the advent of texting while driving. I call it driving while “intexticated”. DWI for short.

And because text messaging combines visual, cognitive and manual aspects, it is one of the biggest distractions that a driver can encounter. Driving while “intexticated” has become a potential threat to cyclists as well as to the pedestrians.

A research conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute showed that texting while driving basically doubles a driver's reaction time and makes the driver less able to respond to sudden roadway dangers such as a vehicle up front making a sudden stop. Accordingly, reaction times slowed from one to two seconds in the absence of texting to three to four seconds while texting. The study also found texting impaired the ability of drivers to maintain proper lane position and a constant speed.

According to textinganddrivingsafety.com, texting while driving is one of the leading causes of traffic injuries and death across North America. In 2011 alone, 23 percent or auto collisions (or 1.3 million crashes) involved cell phones.

In the Philippines, the Automobile Association Philippines or AAP said the use of mobile phones while driving is the 12th most common cause of traffic accidents in the country. 

Meanwhile, we already have House Bill No. 4917 that prohibits drivers, both of private and public vehicles, from placing and receiving calls and composing and receiving text messages while driving. Those who will be caught violating the regulations could be charged with six months of imprisonment and fines ranging from 200 up to 100,000 pesos.

According to the Automobile Association Philippines or AAP, Manila, Makati, Caloocan City and Cebu have banned the practice on paper. But faithful implementation of the law is another.

In parting, remember that there is no such thing as SAFE texting and driving. If you text, don’t drive. If you drive, don’t text.

And if you are the passenger in a public transport, do not hesitate to call the attention of the driver. Be brutally frank or shockingly but courageously honest about. Be ready to meet opposition or resentment.*

Waivers

(Originally published in the Jan. 20 to 26, 2013 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

A WAIVER is a standard practice in sporting activities such as marathons --- whether competitive or recreational (often disguised as a ‘fun run’) and even for as a short a distance as 3 kilometers. It is a voluntary relinquishment or surrender of some known right or privilege.

A typical waiver frees the event owners, organizers and promoters, the race directors, sponsors, advertisers, host municipalities, including those providing support for the event, and each of their respective parent, subsidiary and affiliated companies and their officers, directors, partners, shareholders, from any and all legal liabilities and entanglements which may arise out of, result from, or relate to my participation in the event.

Waivers are premised on the presumption that the participants are in good health and in proper physical condition to participate in the event. Through the waiver, a participant declares that he or she is solely responsible in determining whether he or she is sufficiently fit and healthy enough to participate in the event. 

A waiver also attests to the participant’s having full understanding of the physical and mental rigors associated with event  and and realize that running and other portions of such event is inherently dangerous and represent an extreme test of a person’s physical and mental limits. 

Through the waiver, a participant also attests that he or she is not under the infl¬uence of alcohol or illicit drugs before and during the sporting activity and of which would in any way impair his or her ability to safely participate in the event.

In effect, a waiver holds the participant as having full understanding that participation involves risks and dangers which include, without limitation, the potential for serious bodily injury, sickness and disease, permanent disability, paralysis and loss of life; loss of or damage to equipment/property; exposure to extreme conditions and circumstances; accidents, contact or collision with other participants, spectators, vehicles or other natural or manmade objects; arising from adverse weather conditions; imperfect course conditions; water, road and surface hazards; equipment failure; inadequate safety measures; participants of varying skill levels; situations beyond the immediate control of the event organizers; and other undefined risks and dangers which may not be readily foreseeable or are presently unknown and that these risks may be caused in whole or in part by the participant’s own actions or inactions, the actions or inactions of the other participants or the acts, inaction or negligence of the released parties. 

In short, participant assumes all risks and responsibility for any damages, liabilities, losses or expenses which he or she incurs as a result of my participation in the event.

Waivers are designed to protect event organizers and sponsors to protect themselves and their business from the risks of financial loss brought about by lawsuits or claims by parties injured while participating in sporting activities.

The moral of the story: Run at your own risk.*

Reporting on the Environment --- 2012: The Year That Was

(Originally published in the Dec. 30, 2012 to Jan. 5, 2013 issue

of the Baguio Chronicle --- a weekly newspaper based in Baguio city ---

authored b y Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

FOR a number of reporters and editors, environmental events may appear to be “just another story” or “just one of the many to be covered on an ordinary day”. 

The Baguio Chronicle disagrees. Environmental issues are vitally important issues with implications at every level of society. They have their impacts upon people not only in a particular part of a city, rural area or region, but often throughout a nation, the continent and the world. 

S.A.M.S. Kibria, former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP), said that “the task of environmental protection and management is so vast that no amount of effort and investment by environmental experts and planners can be expected to achieve very much without the involvement of the media in motivating large-scale participation of the people.”

“As journalists, you need to know about environmental trends for several reasons; as members of a profession whose chief task is public information and awareness, you shoulder a great responsibility for familiarizing the public at-large with such trends and other complex environmental concerns,” he said.

Amidst the fast-changing landscape of environmental journalism, the year 2012 saw the Baguio Chronicle live up to its brand promise “Because You Have the Right to Know” with even greater resolve. Now on its fourth year of uninterrupted publication, it has established and proved itself even among the cynics, its own distinct style of reportage. 

The Baguio Chronicle took that route. It chose to dwell more on environmental issues instead of stories on sex, drugs and violence --- or worst, in the furtherance of corporate greed and/or to advance one’s political agenda.

The SM deforestation plans

ONE environmental issue that hugged the pages of the Baguio Chronicle practically all throughout 2012 is the highly-ambitious plans of mall giant SM Baguio to expand its profit orientation to its backyard along Governor Pack Road of which would entail the clearing of the remaining forest clusters within the central business district of Baguio.

But even before SM Baguio admitted it, Mayor Mauricio Domogan said he has been initiating talks with SM “to develop the area currently being used as a centralized bus terminal (along Gov. Pack Road)” which he said “would ease traffic along Session Road”.

Quickly, SM said that “the expanded and renovated SM City Baguio is planned as a seven-level, open-air retail, dining and entertainment destination” which “will rely almost exclusively on natural ventilation for the mall’s generous public spaces” and that it is so designed to siphon more people to its doors by providing additional mall entrance along Gov. Pack Road and “for those customers who still chose to arrive by automobiles, almost 1,000 additional underground parking spaces will be provided under the expansion”. The expansion (totaling 76,000 square meters of floor area in addition to the existing 106,000 square meters) would make it the largest of all the SM Malls outside of Metro Manila.

Meanwhile, Domogan said that “it has undergone the process” and that “the plans have been submitted to the proper agencies, particularly the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)”.

Following a volley of rejections practically from all directions, an obviously agitated Domogan returned fire by saying that “as far as the application for tree cutting and the earth-balling of the trees are concerned, no less than the DENR have been the one which issued the permits”, denying to high heavens any participation. 

DENR said there have been no violations committed against Executive Order 23 (issued on February 1, 2011) which declared a moratorium on cutting and harvesting of timber in the natural and residual forests. DENR said the trees which SM Baguio intends to kill are within a private property and are therefore out of reach of the total log ban (or Executive Order 23).

Meanwhile, SM offered to rehabilitate the 34-year old and dilapidated Baguio Convention Center on a public-private partnership arrangement.

But then, as always, the thinking population cannot just be easily tricked.

“It is not just the need for a parking area that is important,” retired architect Joseph Alabanza said. “There are many things to be considered; are we trying to resolve the problem of reducing traffic at Session Road? Is it consistent with the long-term plan to pedestrianize Session Road or decongest the central business district? I doubt it. It will generate more traffic.” 

“This is totally unacceptable and callously insensitive to the importance of trees to the environment and ecology,” an on-line petition read that has started to gather support by the minute. 

“We protest vehemently this intended act,” declared the on-line petition launched and addressed to no less than President Benigno Aquino, Environmental Protection Secretary Nereus ‘Neric’ Acosta, and DENR Secretary Ramon Paje.

“What is important to me is that we have a centralized bus terminal and the revenue that the city will be able to generate from it,” Domogan replied. “The development plan is already finished; there is no more turning back,” a defeatist Domogan said in defense of SM.

Boycott SM Baguio!

ON January 20, thousands of citizens took the streets to voice out their opposition in what was so far the biggest mass protest that Baguio ever saw --- not even at the height of the anti-Marcos movement in the ‘80s. But it did not end there after the protesters called it a day. They are taking the legal avenue.

A week later, after repeatedly washing hands from any participation in the issuance of tree cutting permit to SM, Domogan finally admitted to have endorsed it. He run to the rescue of SM by saying that it has complied with the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) of the city as well as the zoning ordinance; hence, the city government has no legal ground to prohibit the development plan.

“Since it is now a private property, the owner has the right to exercise its plans for development,” the Baguio Chronicle quoted Domogan.

On February 23, the Cordillera Global Network, the Cordillera People’s Alliance, the Cordillera Indigenous People Legal Center, the Cordillera Ecological Pine Tree Center, and several private citizens sued for a for a temporary environmental protection order or TEPO at the same sought to nullify and void the permits granted by DENR and the building permit issued by the City Building and Architecture (CBAO) in favor of SM Investments Corporation or SMIC. 

It was initially heard on March 15 and 21 where a “gentleman’s agreement” was made for SM not to move pending the resolution of the petition for a TEPO. 

Meanwhile, the signature campaign to save the trees have reached 30,000, gathered mostly during the Baguio Flower Festival’s Session Road in Bloom. It was nearing 50,000 as of the latest count.

Near midnight of April 9, SM Baguio ditched betrayed the “gentleman’s agreement” and made true of its long-standing threat when its hired men and smoke-belching machines zeroed-in on the trees. By day-break, no less than a dozen fallen trees are down. The protesters can only watch in hysteria --- their cries and banging of the mall’s GI sheet walls drowned by the roar of a backhoe slowly eating its way into the trees’ roots.

The petitioners raced against the clock and pushed their luck in getting a TEPO. On April 10, Presiding Judge Antonio Esteves of RTC Branch 5 ordered SM Investments Corp. and its agents and all persons acting in its behalf to enjoin from conducting cutting, earth-balling and uprooting of trees within the Luneta Hill area “until after the terminations of the proceedings of this case”.

Invoking the public’s right to clean air as mandated under the Clean Air Act, Esteves cited the assertion of the plaintiffs that “tree-cutting and earth-balling of (the) said trees will exacerbate the aerial situation in the central business district of the city of Baguio and will lead to deleterious effects on public health and the general welfare of the people”.

On April 22, the 1st Baguio City Environmental Summit passed the Baguio Declaration seeking to revoke the permit given to SM Prime Holdings for its expansion project. The Declaration also pushed for the investigation of the status and legality of SM Prime Holding’s land ownership over Luneta Hill and surrounding areas, promote good governance and hold the concerned Baguio City officials, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and other government officials and agencies accountable for their decisions and wrongdoings.

“In our desire for a Baguio City that is progressive, sustainable and responsive to the needs and sentiments of its people; in our deep respect for Mother Nature, its ecological balance and integrity of creation and after thorough and all-rounded discussions and deliberations while keeping the common good of the people of Baguio in mind, we now forward our recommendations, with the expectation that these serve as a guide for our policy-makers, decision-makers and urban planners, as well as our own respective organizations in defining the future development plans of Baguio City,” the Declaration said.

The declaration was ‘served’ to Mayor Domogan but it was marred by tension when Atty. Eldora Tabdi who introduced herself as the legal officer of the Baguio City Police Department intervened. “If you do not get out from the City Hall premises, we will disperse you,” Tabdi said.

The case entered mediation. Both camps stood their grounds. Well-financed lawyers backed by a well-oiled propaganda machinery versus a ragtag but dedicated legal team working pro-bono.

Mediation failed. A full-scale court battle ensued. The judge called for marathon hearings. 

In October, the protesters scored a victory outside of the court by getting into their side world-famous rock musician Sting whose Manila engagement was originally booked at the Mall of Asia. The environmentalist rock star eventually moved the show to Araneta Coliseum with a categorical statement that he is against SM Baguio’s deforestation plans.

On December 3, Judge Esteves handed down a sad verdict by dismissing the complaints and lifting the TEPO for failure of the petitioners to present any proof to sustain their claims.

But the opposition vowed to keep the fight alive by way of an appeal. Lately, they have petitioned President Aquino to do something.

The “biggest mining disaster” in Philippine history

ON August 1, after days of continuous rains, the bottom of the 20-year old 92-hectare mine tailings dam of Philex Mining Corporation in Tuba, Benguet breached. Tons upon tons of sticky silts cascaded into the Balog Creek below where an unsuspecting village mainly dependent on fishing silently lay in wait. Agno River is merely 2.5 kilometers away.

The Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau or MGB ordered Philex to immediately halt its operations. Philex complied. But not before insisting that the “spill” is “non-toxic”. Philex later claimed that it has been “absolved” by the MGB. But the MGB vehemently disowned the claim. As a last straw, Philex said it intends to contest the penalties initially estimated to be a billion pesos because it was “accidental” (force majeure).

MGB said that the first two “major spills” happened in span of 14 hours on August 1 and 2 and were entered in the log books of Philex as “controlled” not more than six hours from each occurrence. It was pronounced as “plugged” almost two months later after Philex dropped metal balls filled with concrete mix (the largest of which was 9 meters in diameter) into the crater. Container vans and junk bulldozers and trucks were also fed the crater which it easily swallowed. Nine other “non-major” spillages occurred between August 11 and September 13. On September 27, the last of the three concrete plugs (totaling nearly 100 meters long) inside the one-kilometer drain tunnel was completed to compliment the giant balls and junk metals earlier fed the crater. By now, the gaping crater is already about 30 hectares wide.

To date, MGB estimates more than 13.5 million metric meters of mine tailings have escaped into the Balog Creek, a tributary to Agno River 2.5 kilometers from ground zero and more than 10 kilometers upstream San Roque Dam in Pangasinan. Other estimates placed it at 20 million metric tons. Sitio Pangbasan in Dalupirip just below the tailings dam is the hardest hit. Meanwhile, the villages along Balog Creek have reported loss of their livelihood.

The Philex incident brought back images of a similar incident when, on the March 24, 1996, the mine tailings dam of Marcopper Mining Corporation in Boac, Marinduque spilled its contents into the Makulapnit and Boac Rivers.

“The toxic spills immediately caused flash floods which isolated five villages, with a population of 4,400 people, along the far side of the Boac River. One village, Barangay Hinapula, was buried under six feet of muddy floodwater and 400 families had to flee to higher grounds. Their sources of drinking water were contaminated while fish, freshwater shrimp and pigs were killed. Helicopters had to fly in food, water and medical supplies to the isolated villages. Residents of 20 villages out of the 60 villages in the whole province were advised to evacuate their communities,” Victoria Tauli-Corpuz of Third World Network wrote.

But even while the Marcopper incident is considered the worst mining disaster in terms of toxicity, the volume of the Philex spill which is nearly ten times more than that of Marcopper’s, makes it (the Philex spill) --- volume wise --- the “biggest mining disaster” in Philippine history.

The Philex spill happened less than a month after President Aquino signed Executive Order 79 seeking to institutionalize and implement reforms in the Philippine mining sector by providing policies and guidelines “to ensure environmental protection and responsible mining in the utilization of mineral resources.

Simultaneously, the 20,000-strong Federation of Small-Scale Miners in Benguet expressed fears that EO 79 only benefits the large-scale mining corporations and will eventually lead to their demise. The federation, in 2012, grappled with its own hazards of the trade with several deaths and injuries from slides and cave-in.

Others

OTHER environmental issues that we grappled with in 2012 was the attempt of the Benguet State University to cut 50,000 trees to give way to its employees’ housing in La Trinidad, Benguet. 

Meanwhile, Baguio continues with its elusive and seemingly desperate search for its own engineered sanitary landfill or ESL. The Irisan Dumpsite was closed for good following the infamous ‘thrashlide’ in August 2011 which sent an estimated 15,000 tons of garbage cascading into Brgy. Tadiangan in the nearby town of Tuba. Killed in the incident were Jefonie Leon Laglangan Cael, 18; Noemi Cael, 20; Reveller Genesis Tacio Flores, 13; Apolinario Tacio Flores, 10; and Franco Tacio Flores, 16. Their grandmother was also killed while their cousin John was injured.

To date, Baguio’s garbage problem continue to gobble up taxpayers’ money by the millions. Baguio presently dumps its garbage in Urdaneta City in Pangasinan while the city government remains fickle-minded on suing Protech for reneging on its contract. The environmental recycling system or ERS that the city government purchased through Protech remains in and out of service. The city government is yet to generate revenue from the fertilizers that the ERS is supposed to convert from the garbage it is fed.

Early on, Benguet Governor Nestor Fongwan said that deforestation is gaining fast at Mt. Cabuyao in the town of Tuba. After conducting an ocular inspection which confirmed his fears, Fongwan threatened to cancell the certificates of titles issued to the residents thereat.

The Ordinance banning plastic bags at the city market and in sari-sari stores is supposed to take effect in 2012. But even before it happened, Domogan displayed his usual defeatist attitude by saying that the implementation of the ordinance is next to impossible, if not totally impossible, in the absence of a more feasible a alternative. Plastic is still the practical and the only readily available option compared to the lowly bayong, he said.

La Trinidad meanwhile grappled with technicalities in the purchase of its one-of-a-kind solution to its garbage problem: The Black Hole. 

The Chamber of Kalinga Producers launched its own campaign against plastic bags while Mankayan was divided on whether to mine or not. Bontoc has started looking for its own engineered sanitary landfill or ESL. Further north, Kalinga insinuated that it will not hesitate to sue for a Writ of Kalikasan versus Mountain Province over the pollution of Chico River by the latter through the years.

Atok, Bakun, Buguias and Mankayan sat down as members of the Mt. Trail Inter-Local Health Zone (ILHZ) Board and passed a resolution requesting the member towns to enact their own ordinances banning plastic sando bags and styrofoams in their respective towns. Tublay said it is currently finalizing its own “zero-plastic” ordinance.

In May, the Baguio Chronicle reported President Aquino as having ordered a comprehensive land use plan or CLUP for Baguio (and Boracay) to prevent over-development.*

A Car-Free Day. How about Baguio?

(Originally published in the Dec. 2 to 8, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

THOUSANDS of clean air advocates are set to gathered last November 25 at the Ayala Triangle in Makati City to call for cleaner air and better health. 

Dubbed as “Clean Air? Pwede!!!”, the move sought for at least one Car-Free Day in Metro Manila’s roads every November as National Clean Air Month to reduce air pollution.

The activities started from the Ayala Triangle and followed by a “Clean Air Parade” to Ortigas Center led by the Tour of the Fireflies and runners from Youth Vote Philippines, electric bus and jeepneys, hybrid bus, and an Ecological Fashion Show by the Miriam College.

The event was initiated by the Partnership for Clean Air, a multi-sectoral body that includes the DENR, through its Environmental Management Bureau, the Metro Manila Development Authority or MMDA, the local governments of Makati and Pasig, Department of Transportation and Communications, Philippine Information Agency, Laguna Lake Development Authority, civil society organizations (such as Miriam P.E.A.C.E., Earth Day Jam Foundation, Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines, The Firefly Brigade, Clean Air Initiative-Asia, Youth Vote, Ateneo School of Government, Earth Day Network).

The groups are also pursuing advocacy campaign for the provision of an efficient and ecologically-friendly public transport system and increase awareness on the need to build ‘walkable’ pedestrian-friendly streets and infrastructures. 

The Car-Free Day urged businesses to provide safe and secured walkways (such as Ayala and Ortigas walkways), urge the government to provide safe and accessible spaces such as bicycle lanes and pavements for pedestrian, as well as promote the improvement of mass transit. The campaign also seeks to educate the policies about the health benefits of walking, cycling and other non-motorized transport rides.

A Clean Air Concert led by Clean Air champion Lou Bonnevie was held in the afternoon which also featured True Faith, Mayonnaise, Absolute Play, The Drum Circle, and others.

On November 18, 2008, Proclamation No. 1776 designated the National Climate Change Consciousness Week to be held every November to create awareness on the ill effects of global warming and climate change “by pursuing broad and intensive public information and educational campaign to secure the collective cooperation of private and public sectors at all levels in finding solutions to this concern”.

The Proclamation also calls on “all agencies, government offices, and instrumentalities to collaborate in coordination with the private sector, and in liaison with the United Nations family, to conduct and participate in relevant activities”.

One of the activities of the National Climate Change Consciousness Week which drew big participation was the 32-kilometer bike tour on November 18 spearheaded by the Firefly Brigade.

There was also the International Conference on Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation for Food and Environmental Security held in Los Baños, Laguna “to bring together researchers, academicians, policy makers and planners, development workers, NGOs and other professionals in a discussion forum for the exchange and updating of information, integrate and forge linkages towards enhanced regional capacity to achieve food, environmental, nutritional and health security in the face of climate change”.

Simultaneous was the “Ikaw, Ako, Tayo: Kabataang Handa sa Klimang Nagbabago” interactive exhibit and workshop at the Museo Pambata in Ermita, Manila “to educate students on the causes and effects of climate change, enable the students to identify ways of reducing their carbon footprint, raise the consciousness of the students on the urgency of addressing climate change and inspire the students to become advocates of simple climate change mitigation and adaptation measures”.

There was also the “Greeneration: Young Artists for Climate Change Awareness” workshops at the Asian Institute of Management and PETA Theater Center. The simultaneous specialized workshops focused on using the arts to raise climate change awareness and launch the program “Mobilizing Young People Towards Climate Change Awareness” which will be implemented throughout the year to popularize climate change issues through theater, creative writing and music; introduce 180 youth artists and leaders to the potential of their art for climate change awareness and education; launch the Pocket Performance (PoPer) developed by Climate Change Commission and PETA to be toured throughout the year that will inform students and the public about climate change in a hip and cool way; create a short music and theater improvisation on climate change; and publish 120 articles on climate change in campus journals and online blogs.

Taking cognizance of the role of the media “as a powerful instrument for spreading information dissemination, creating awareness and in shaping opinion”, the Creating Awareness on Climate Change Media Forum was held on November 21 at the Malacañang Briefing Room.

Meanwhile, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources or DENR says that motor vehicles remain the country’s major source of air pollution in the urban areas and that “there is a need to consider the use of non-motorized transport”. 

Early this year, Police Superintendent Allan Logan, the Chief of the Traffic Management Board of the Baguio city Police lamented the irreversible increase of motor vehicles clogging practically all the streets of the city. 

Speaking during the Public Transport Leaders’ Consultative Forum in January, Logan said that the number of registered motor vehicles in Baguio has swelled to 38,000 compared to 36,000 some ten years ago. Of the 38,000 carbon-emitting vehicles, he said, 27,800 are privately-owned while 11,000 are public utility vehicles of which 6,000 are jeeps and the rest are taxis.

Added to the motor vehicles fighting their way through every square inch of the road is close to half million daytime population compared to the about 300,000 some ten years ago, all within the same space (49 square kilometers), he said.*

The Enduro di Braggadocio

(Originally published in the Nov. 18 to 24, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

ALL trails lead to the Yellow Trail this weekend where mountain bike freaks converge for the Enduro di Braggadocio.

As of this writing, my “old” and “aging” friend Cesar Zulueta from Quirino Hill bragged that physical preparations of the trails are almost done and ready for bragging. What was originally a dream is now a reality, he bragged.

I say “old” because we have been friends since the early ‘80s when His Excellency Ferdinand Edralin Marcos was still the president of the New Republic. I can brag about that. 

That was when Quirino Hill, bragging aside, was not yet as crowded as it is now which makes anyone refuse to brag about it. Ces and I used to “jam” in the veranda of another “old” and “aging” brag friend German ‘Ulo’ Sales in Middle Quirino Hill, close to where I stayed when I was still in college.

I also say “aging” for obvious reasons. I call him “Manong Ces”, especially in the presence of the younger riders if only “to lead by example”. 

Meanwhile, I will brag about the “old” and “aging” brag ‘Ulo’ in another topic in the future, away from the subject of bicycles.

Going back, Manong Ces (who lately started spelling his nickname as Xes) bragged that the Enduro di Braggadocio will feature five “special stages” designed to test to the max the hardcore Baguio downhiller. 

“All downhill!” the old and aging Manong Ces bragged when I bumped into him at the Mandarin Restaurant last Tuesday, as if he can keep up with the braver and younger Baguio downhillers.

What’s the catch?, I asked. 

Nothing. No nothing. No prizes. 

What?! (I nearly fell off my chair.)

Nothing? No nothing? No prizes? Yes, Manong Ces bragged, obviously running out patience. The same old, aging and grumpy (and brag) Manong Ces!

The riders will just be timed for their run on each stage and the rider with the shortest accumulated time wins, Manong Ces bragged.

How would you be able to attract riders if you cannot offer even a bottle of SanMig Lite as a grand prize?!

Nothing. No nothing. No prizes. Just the bragging right, the “old” and “aging” (and brag) Manong Ces answered. Just the exclusive right to brag about being the fastest among the fastest riders in the very first Enduro di Braggadocio. 

They don’t call it Enduro di Braggadocio for nothing!

The generic Baguio downhiller is really a brag. Please don’t get me wrong. Mind you, he has all the reasons to be. I can brag about that.

He has the endurance. Endurance beyond compare. He has the speed. Blinding and dizzying speed! He has the power. Unbelievable power! And he has the best bike that makes my bike just ten pesos worth. He has the looks that I don’t have. 

And he has proven himself in many a-downhill tournaments such as in Sagada early this year. 

I was there! I’m a brag!

-o0o-

DERIVED from the word “endurance”, enduro (or ND for short) is a relatively new format which appears to have taken some inspiration from both car rally and motorbike enduro racing. 

Mountain bike enduro is essentially the competitive side of the mountain biking format often referred to today as “all-mountain”. It is a stage-race format where the winner is the rider who accumulates the lowest combined time from the various timed sections. 

International or world mountain bike enduro competitions take place over the course of one or two days. Week-long enduro competitions do also exist. 

A typical one-day enduro race consists of three to five timed “special” stages --- linked by predominantly ascending “liaison” stages --- on a technically demanding, generally descending terrain. Although a rider's specific performance on the physically demanding liaison stages does not affect his or her result, the liaisons are often associated with a time-cut off (i.e. a latest permitted arrival at the summit of the next special stage).*

It could happen to anyone

(Originally published in the Nov. 11 to 17, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

Bradley Wiggins: Tour de France winner injured in crash!, BBC Sport reported on Thursday.

I am not surprised. I am not saying I have been expecting it. It can happen to anyone, even to the very best cyclists on the road. It can happen even to the champions.

As a matter of consolation, BBC Sport added that the 32-year old 2012 Tour de France champion and Olympic gold medal winner is now in hospital --- after being knocked off his bike --- nursing damages in his ribs and is being kept in for observation.

Wiggins’ injuries from the crash were first thought to be very serious but later it appeared that he suffered a number of broken ribs and cuts and bruises.

“He was taken to hospital with injuries that are not thought to be life-threatening; his condition is stable,” police said.

A witness who saw Wiggins shortly after he was knocked over later told the police that Wiggins “was on the pavement; he actually thought he had broken his ribs; his hands looked bruised and they were curled up a bit and then his color changed; he was obviously in a lot of pain.”

Wiggins was on a mountain bike on his way to meet a group of local cyclists. The driver of the Astra, a local woman, was uninjured, news reports added.

His Team Sky has confirmed the accident on their website. “We can confirm that on Wednesday evening Bradley Wiggins was involved in a road traffic accident whilst riding his bike near his home in Lancashire (North West of England),” it said. “He is being kept in hospital overnight for observation but the injuries he has sustained are not thought to be serious and he is expected to make a full and speedy recovery.”

Wiggins, a father of two, is the first British winner of the Tour de France in July this year. Weeks later, he won a fourth Olympic gold medal at the London Olympics with a expected victory in the road time trial. 

In the 2000 Summer Olympics, he won bronze medal in the team pursuit. In the 2004 Olympics, he pedaled to win gold in the four-kilometer individual pursuit, silver in the team pursuit and a bronze in the Madison. 

The madison is a conventional race but with riders in each team riding part of the distance, handing over to the other member, resting, and then returning to the race. Teams are usually of two riders but occasionally of three. Only one of the team is racing at any time and the replacement rider has to be touched before he can take over. The touch can also be a push, often on the shorts, or one rider hurling the other into the race by a hand-sling.

How long each rider stays in the race is for each team to decide. Originally, riders took stints of a couple of hours or more and the resting rider went off for a sleep or a meal. That was easier in earlier six-day races because hours could pass without riders attempting to speed away from the others. As races became more intensive, both riders from the team began riding on the track at the same time, one going fast on the short line around the bottom of the track and the other idling higher up until his turn comes to take over. Modern six-days last less than 12 hours a day and the madison is now only a featured part, so staying on the track throughout is more feasible.

The aim of each team is to ride more laps than any of the others. Tied positions are split by points awarded for placings at a series of sprints at intervals during the race.

The madison is a feature of six-day races, but it can also be a separate race, as in the Olympic Games. It has its own championships and specialist riders. A madison typically lasts between 30 and 60 minutes, but can take up to 90 minutes. The Madison was a Summer Olympic event for men from 2000-2008, but was dropped ahead of the 2012 London Olympics.

Born on April 28, 1980, Bradley Marc Wiggins started his cycling career on the track where he specialized in the pursuit and Madison disciplines and eventually evolved towards road racing.sad

Wiggins won a bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics, three further medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics and two golds at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Wiggins' haul of six Olympic medals, which includes three gold medals, make him the sixth most successful British Olympian and is the most bemedalled British Olympian alongside rower Steve Redgrave with six medals. In road cycling, he turned professional in 2002, but his involvement was limited by his track cycling until 2007.

After the 2008 Olympics, Wiggins took a break from the track to focus on the road. Initially viewed as a time-trial specialist and a rouleur (a type of racing cyclist considered a good all-rounder), Wiggins showed his ability in stage races when he finished fourth at the 2009 Tour de France --- the joint highest placed finish by a British rider in Tour de France history. 

With his impressive 2009 Tour de France finish and a podium finisher in the 2011 Vuelta a España, Wiggins displayed excellent racing form the entire season by winning the overall title in the highly important stage races of the eight-stage 1,155.5-kilometer Paris-Nice (established in 1933 and is also known as The Race to the Sun) last March, the Tour de Romandie (5 stages, 1 prologue for a total 695.1 kilometers) the following month, and the 1,052-kilometer Critérium du Dauphiné (7 stages, one prologue) just last month. 

The son of an Australian professional cyclist Gary Wiggins, Bradley started racing at south London's Herne Hill Velodrome at age 12. In 2010 he was inducted in to the London Youth Games Hall of Fame. 

At 20, Wiggins won a bronze medal for Britain in the team pursuit at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Wiggins became the first British athlete in 40 years to win three medals at one Games.*