From Manila....
One of the stories in today's paper really stood out because it was something that was written about earlier this week by Torn and Frayed.....the people living by the railway lines in Manila. Whilst I was reading the newspaper article I asked one of my colleagues who was sitting next to me what would happen to the people whose houses had been demolised. "They will be returned to the provinces, from where they came"..."but you know, there are professional squatters".... it seems,(from what he told me), that some of the squatters are given land and/or housing in the provinces to encourage them to return to the provinces (or as repayment of having their 'housing' demolished), apparently they then sell up their new land or property and move back to squat...in order to repeat the process....how much of this is true I don't know...One thing that did strike me whilst reading the article was the following sentence..."We are clearing certain areas of Metro Manila to make way for what we refer to as an investors route. Clean and attractive zones to be adopted starting from the airport area will encourage investors to put up businesses here in the country," Fernando pointed out"...if that's the case...they have a long and hard job ahead of them.
And a little Garci update..surprise, surprise he could be in Manila, because he never >left...!!! (via MLQ3)
And I see that a Filipino seaman has been detained after a flight from Hong Kong....
And a little Garci update..surprise, surprise he could be in Manila, because he never >left...!!! (via MLQ3)
And I see that a Filipino seaman has been detained after a flight from Hong Kong....
posted by Madame Chiang at 6:49 pm
6 Comments:
Hi there. I don't think the link to the newspaper article is quite right? If possible can you correct it as I would like to read the article. If not, never mind!
you were right...link was wrong...is now corrected...
this link is a quick insight into the beautification of Manila!
The first thing they need to do is to get rid of the current Mayor of Manila! The Jai Alai building on Taft, a lovely art deco building, was knocked down by Atienza in 2001 and the spot where it stood has been barren desert ever since. Arroceros Forest Park, a resource any city (apart from Manila) would be proud of, is in the process of being cut down for an office block. Even ridding the city of Atienza's hideous posters and ubiquitous name would be a major contribution to "beautification". OK, rant over.
I took the train south from Manila toward Legaspi several years ago and saw all the squatters, and waded in waist deep water to do some shopping. Squatters cannot be banned from Metro Manila and only the people can help themselves. Not the government. The state of the Philippines is a direct reflection of the state of the Filipino people. I'm getting very tired of the excuses: the government is corrupt, the government won't help me, the government won't pick up the trash in my street in front of my house.
It gets old.
Merci beaucoup madame pour le nouveau link.
Carl, I think I disagree with you. Though at times it seems the Philippine government is incapable of carrying out even the simplest of functions, there has to be a role for it in arbitrating the different interests in questions such as squatting. If we just leave it "to the people" only the interests of the strong will prevail, which is pretty much what happens at the moment. Some suggestions have been made in a discussion on torn -- I don't say any of them are too original or clever, but they do offer some hints as to what might be done.
One of the phrases I here thrown around a lot is...."people get the government they deserve"....
I haven't been here long enough to really comment but from a newcomers perspective it seems that the average Filipino has basically thrown their hands in the air and given up....
Jose Rizal made some comment (I forget the exact words, but will find them eventually) about the fact that the average Filipino was better off before the word 'miracle' was introduced to their language....
religion and politics....
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