KILLER ROAD INTERSECTION – There is a killer road on MacArthur Highway of the Manila North Road. It is by the intersection of Urdaneta-Binalonan-Pozorrubio-Laoac.

Many vehicular accidents have happened in that section. Many survived but there have been many that died.

The drivers in this accident-prone area in this highway say one tends to drive fast when approaching it. The situation is scary at night, especially when the vehicle that passes in that area has defective headlights.

I learned from Binalonan Mayor Ramon Guico III (or Mayor Monmon to his constituents and friends) that the municipal government has already appropriated P8.5 million to finance the traffic light in that intersection going to the town proper and another unit in different section.

“It is ready for bidding, we have the plans already, we selected the intelligent traffic system na hindi sya timer type so na se-sense nya kung puno na itong side na ito, ipapa-go na nya,” the mayor said.

The pedestrians will push a button to give them priority to cross the street. That’s the kind of system the LGU is set to install anytime.

The problem is, before they could do so, they had to write the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) so they can install the machine once the bidding is done as there are some civil works that need to be done in that area.

They had written the DPWH in January only to find out that the protocol requires that the letter must not be sent to the DPWH national. So they did so in the district office of the DPWH, then it forwarded the communication to the regional office. But so far there is no news if it is already in the national office.

“Ngayon wala pa,” he said.

That traffic light is supposedly a project of the DPWH, Guico said.

He said they have sent several letters/resolutions since 2012 requesting the installation of traffic light in that section but DPWH has not responded.

The P8.5-million to be spent by the LGU for the traffic lights represents more than five percent of the town’s total budget for the year. “Malaking kawalan yun sa amin,” the mayor said.

So they are still waiting. I hope it will not be in vain.

Pinondohan na nga ng LGU, kukupad-kupad pa ang DPWH sa pag aksyon.

Sana kung anong bilis nila sa mga road and bridges projects worth millions of pesos na sila ang magpapa-bidding at manggagaling sa kaban nila ang pondo, sana ganun din sa mga gaya ng paglagay ng traffic lights sa Binalonan along the national highway, maski LGU initiated and funded lang ito.. – Eva Visperas

 

FARMERS’ SURVIVAL AT RISK — Something might be terribly wrong with our planet today.

While farmers are rejoicing because they are now exempted from paying irrigation fees, according to a latest legislation signed by President Duterte, and have been given farm machines, through their organizations, by the Department of Agriculture, they have not gone past bad times because of the continuous attacks of pests on their crops.

Recall that previously, farmers complained about black bugs infesting their rice farms in Villasis, Urdaneta, Binalonan, Asingan and Tayug and before these could be licked, the rats emerged from hiding and attacked rice farms in Sta. Barbara.

When this was contained, it was the armyworms or “harabas” this time that rampaged through the onion farms in Bautista, Bayambang, Alcala and Malasiqui, leaving farmers and their kins poor as rats at the end of the harvest season.

In fact, a state of calamity was already declared in Bautista because of the massive infestation of armyworms onion plants.

And now comes the cecid fly on which, according to a report, it has already destroyed 80 percent of the about to be harvested mangoes in Pangasinan.

All these, if you do not know it yet, have already pulled down Pangasinan from the pedestal as top mango producer in Region 1 if not in the entire Philippines. And those who suffered the most were the farmers and their families.

It is unbelievable that despite five years of painstaking research by scientists, cecid fly are still feasting on mango fruits, which make the lives of mango growers more miserable.

We heard that some owners of mango trees are now bent on cutting down their trees to be sold to furniture makers since they can no longer earn money from it owing to the unending attacks of cecid flies.

Environmentalists say the emergence of pests that have now become almost uncontrollable may have something to do with the climate change.

All these pests were unheard of many decades back and have recently emerged because of global warming as our old planet is no longer as hale as before and could be even dying.

That is why I am still amazed why some people still want to have another coal-fired power plant in Pangasinan, particularly, are when these hazardous to people’s health and the environment.

The rich officials don’t care what will happen to the people’s health and environment as long as they can earn their profit objectives.

Meantime, pests are eating the plants that farmers hope to harvest in order to feed their families and save them from hunger and diseases.

But at the end of the day, there may be no food as well for the forebears of those who want to further pollute the environment when mother nature collapses. – Leonardo Micua

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