I REMEMBER some few years back and we were in South Korea and was traveling with then Clark Development Corporation President Levy P. Laus and other officials. We were on our way to the main headquarters of Samsung, one of SK's biggest conglomerates. We had in our rented van Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum because Laus requested him to be part of our team in the negotiation with Samsung. He was to brief their officials with regards to the movement of Mt. Pinatubo.
It was the newsman in me and I took the opportunity in fielding so many questions to Solidum with regards to the much publicized West Valley Fault that is lying underneath Metro Manila. Even then he was predicting that the mega quake will occur within a time frame of fifteen years. Soldum isn't trying to scare the wits of anyone. Seismologists are saying that if a 7.2 magnitude will last for 30 seconds is destructive enough. 'And a minute-long quake will be in high sevens' and God forbids nothing of this type will happen in our country. Metro Manila is not seismic-safety area.
I again remember what my businessman friend Rene Romero of Pampanga Chamber of Commerce is saying all along. He is a staunch advocate of a decongest Metro Manila movement. He has been vocal in his call to push now the right buttons and start the decongestion. The Bases Conversion And Development Authority (BCDA) is now developing the so-called Green City, a 9,000 hectare liveable mixed used township. The Ayalas are currently developing a 1,000 hectare property in Porac town along the SCTEX.
I have been saying and writing this all along. Metro Manila urban area is so dense that the residents quality of life is so low and it's getting worse everyday. Traffic and pollution are the two pinpointed problems that gets worse every passing years. It is said by analysts that short and long term solutions should be in application now, and that government should gather its strongest political will and make the tough decisions. Maybe Dutertenomics is the answer.
So the real answer in the decongestion of Metro Manila is the 39,000 hectare area in the Capas part of Clark Freeport. The more than 9,000 will be carved out and it is planned to the first smart, disaster-resilient city north of Metro Manila.
rThe Green City is around 100 kilometers from the West Valley Fault Lines and is surrounded by the Zambales and Sierra Madre mountain ranges. The area is even shielded by these two tierras. BCDA President Vince Dizon is pushing hard for faster development of the green city. Time is of the essence.
My tweets:
My deepest condolences to the family of the late Barangay Captain Armando 'Maricel' of Lourdes Northwest, Angeles City. He was a model public servant. An ideal family man and friend to many.
It is about time government should look for an island where it can build a prison to house the many prisoners. Let's decongest the jail. It is too inhuman to lock them in an overcrowded jail.
Who are you Callamard to tell us what is best for our country?
