BEFORE we will temporarily sign off from this page, we would like to bring to the attention of the City Engineer’s Office (CEO) the fast-deteriorating condition of the barangay road in Talandang, Tugbok District going to Calinan. The badly damaged road is right in front of the Talandang National High School, on both ends of the slabs of the concrete road.
Largely, the destruction could have possibly been due to the poor quality of replacement concrete used by the Davao City Water District (DCWD) in its diggings to lay its pipe leading to the water meters of consumers.
The replacement concrete could possibly be of poor mixture that made it unable to sustain the varying weights of passing vehicles – from single motorcycles, tricycles, small and medium-sized cars, and heavy trucks, including the ones that haul boulders, gravels and aggregates from the quarry areas.
Now, that portion of the barangay road has become like solid stones protruding with deep holes in-between. For unfamiliar drivers passing the route, it could mean an accident waiting to happen. Or, it could do serious damage to the vehicles they are driving since any failure to notice the dilapidated section while they are at top speed, could mean their vehicle suddenly dumped on its full weight.
We are not aware that the road condition has been taken up in the sessions of the Sangguniang Barangay for the purpose of informing the proper agency to do something about it. So, we took the liberty of doing it ourselves hoping that some actions will be done before serious accidents happened in this particular section of the road.
*****************************
Last week, during a session of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte delivered his State of the City Address (SOCA). From a post on Facebook by Presidential Assistant for Southern Mindanao Leo Tereso Magno, he was all praises for the mayor’s address.
Unfortunately for us, we were unable to witness or listen to the mayor’s SOCA so we have no way of confirming what the Presidential Assistant was heaping his praises on. Was it on the way the address was delivered? Was it on the content of the address? Or was it on the cited accomplishments of the city administration during the past year?
We can only hope that the City Information Office (CIO) will find means to have the full text of the mayor’s address published in any of the city’s local newspapers. The people of Davao City have the right to know what the mayor or his administration has done so far and what it intends to do for the remainder of his term.
**************************
As we earlier wrote in our column, if there is any official who has adopted a very effective way of having himself visible to the public it is nobody but Davaoeño Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go. He knows where to have himself photographed or video-shot and what of his photos and videos should be submitted to the press for consideration. And Senator Go knows how to catch the attention of the public using still photos or even videos.
The latest that we have monitored was his post of a video shot of his while stopping on the road and borrowing the traffic guy’s table tennis paddle-like sign indicating if vehicles have to stop or go.
The senator from Davao first showed the side that has the inscription “GO” to the camera with the word clearly highlighting his family name. And supposedly to temper the political tone of his action the lawmaker proceeded to show the other side that has the “STOP” inscription. That made the trick.
And in his previous photo opportunity, he was in a Metro Manila public market having himself photographed while being surrounded by vendors and marketgoers. Knowing our culture, the opportunity to have a photo session with high-ranking public servants is one that people in the market would not want to miss.
Will the senator from Davao be able to take advantage of his visibility and apparent approachability to take him to the next higher level of his aspiration? It may not be in the immediate future considering that another Davaoeno is likely to become the priority.
But for certain, what Senator Go is doing is one good political capital for him.
