Living in the City: Garbage Collection

While walking to work, I saw this garbage truck in action. What's interesting about this particular truck is there's only one guy doing the work: the driver.

Once a week, homeowners are required to wheel out their bins in front of their property for collection. The "wheelie" bins are all issued by the council and have colored lids.

Red- regular household waste

Yellow - recyclable waste (cartons, bottles, paper)

Green - Garden waste (cut grass, leaves, branches, etc...)

The garbage truck comes out once a week to collect the bins. The reason why the council issues the bins is because they are compatible with the trucks hydraulic "arm". No garbage men to help lift the bins onto the trucks.

There must be a million reasons (particularly $'s) for investing in expensive gear to save on manpower costs. Garbage collection personnel are exposed to waste which they handle and are at a higher risk of getting sick. This probably translates to higher insurance costs for these workers. Another reason I could think of is that there may not be too many people available for this occupation (even if wages are higher than average).

Is this service possible for a place like Taytay? The investment cost is likely way above the means of our town. Such a move will also bring several garbage collectors out of work. But then, if we want these men to continue handling garbage, we should provide them with the right working clothes for the conditions they are exposed to. They shouldn't be wearing plain shirts, shorts and slippers ( I wonder how many injuries or health related incidents occur to these men on the job). And if the town were to issue bins to people, how long will it take before they get lost, stolen or worse, sold?

Taytay in the early 80's

Taytay is only 12 kilometers from the Greenhills Shopping Center. But in the early 80's, it already took us more than an hour to get there on normal days. Normally we would start at Ortigas extension at Taytay then pass Junction, Rosario, Marikina river bridge, Meralco, EDSA, then reach Greenhills.

The problem was that the volume of cars coming from Rizal was increasing while Rosario was still one lane on either side. At the same time, the construction of the Manggahan floodway was started around 1981. So the same bumper to bumper jams that you see now were actually there since 1980 (so don't feel to bad hehe).
To get around this, my dad would sometimes make a detour around Valley golf - exit through Sumulong highway (where Seven Suites Hotel and Grilla are located now) then drive through Marcos highway -turn left at Ligaya - drive 5 kilometers along A. Rodriguez avenue - then exit through Rosario. Marcos highway was empty back then. None of the subdivisions had been constructed (no Q-mart, Sta. Lucia) and only farmlands could be seen all around.

I would know that we were close to Rosario because I would see the big "FUMAKILLA" insecticide factory along A. Rodriguez. I think this factory is at the intersection of Industria street with A. Rodriguez (there's a Jollibee there now).

All these roads are much busier now and Taytay and Antipolo's population have increased significantly since then. And Unimart is not the only destination that's near Taytay anymore. Good to remember those times. Too bad I don't have any old pictures of the places I mentioned.

Transformational Leadership

Link to Team Bayani homepage

Two days ago I had the fortune of being invited to a small breakfast meeting with MMDA (Metro Manila Development Authority) Chairman Bayani Fernando. I came into that breakfast meeting as a “sold man”. I went out determined to help spread the word about his leadership.

I grew up two towns away from Marikina and the difference is just startling.

How can this city change its image from the “rape and akyat bahay” capital of Metro Manila to what is now generally considered to be its model city in just 15 years?

My cousin had a store in Marikina that we used to visit 20 years ago. It was just messy. Mud everywhere. It was stinky. Garbage everywhere. Parking was a mess. Vendors selling where people needed to walk. Don’t even get me started on the toilets! No one really complained. It was pretty much the situation everywhere in the Philippines!

If you guys used to pass by Cloverleaf market (named for the interchange at Balintawak), you’ll know what I mean: 6 lane south bound at EDSA was effectively reduced to 2 because parked cars and illegal vendors took up all the space! No one seemed to care…people needed to make a living right?

Anyway, I had a Singaporean boss 8 years ago and his family used to drive around Metro Manila. Of all the cities, Marikina impressed him the most. It was clean and it was spacious. He liked what he saw and told me that it was indeed possible to change a city in that way. This was only a few years after Bayani Fernando’s first term as mayor started.

Marikina’s state then reflected the condition the rest of the nation: it was “sick”. But in a few short years, it became Metro Manila’s poster boy. The same people who resisted the changes are now the same people who are proud of what their city has become.

Many call the Philippines the “sick man of Asia”. We Filipinos are sick and tired of that nickname. We all know we deserve better than that. We want to be transformed into the “best country” in Asia.

With all these politicians parading in front of us (leading up to the elections 11 months from now), ask yourself: who among them can show transformational leadership? Who among them has actually transformed people the most?

…I ask you to examine all of them carefully. Let’s take the one who has PROVEN his capacity to lead people to change themselves.


Jay Araullo
Twitter ID: taytaybulls

What's in a name?

We visited a few towns in Laguna yesterday. My dad heard about a barangay in Laguna called Taytay.

The trip took us to the underground cemetery in Nagcarlan, Laguna. As the pictures will show, the National Historical Institute is doing a great job. Just look at the well manicured lawn and the clean surroundings.

We did find barangay Taytay after lunch and bought some pasalubong as well as to chat with the owner of the pasalubong store. It appears barangay Taytay has been around since the 16th century! It's not so surprising really if you think that my hometown has also been around since the 16th too (Bambi HArper wrote an interesting column last year. Will try to post that here later).

On the way back, we made stops at Liliw, Laguna and Taytay falls in Majayjay.

Liliw was a pleasant surprise. They have a street there of tsinelas boutiques :) There were many local tourists which gave me the impression that the place has been able to generate enough buzz to make it a "required" stop for us visitors.

Yesterday's trip was truly outstanding. Our family should really do more of this (and to think that Laguna is just 2 hours away from our place!).