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Metro Rail Accidents and Other Future Mishaps

The solution to the metro rail accidents and the gigantic traffic jam affecting Manila and nearby locales is a pipe dream. The decrepit mass transit system will stay the way it is, despite the fact that the Philippine public sector brags about purchasing the MRT transport utility for more than One Billion Two Hundred Million United States Dollars (US$1.2 B) using taxpayers’ money.

On the other hand, the media hype and the traffic drama arising from the so-called overstocking of container vans in Manila is just that: part of a telenovela.

The elite and finest Manila Police District alone, all on its very own, can solve the problem about the so-called crisis that took the entire government months and weeks and too many conferences, overt and cloaked, to solve.

It is a simple problem, ask the Manila Police that holds the time-honored distinction of being almost all of Asia’s silent university for solving traffic management problems or any other traffic-related concerns – were it not for the hidden intentions to prolong the bull shit about over stocking and causing single vehicle stalls that create 5-hour or more traffic jams unheard of in the history of this country. Just because of a simple 1-truck stalling incident. Not particularly defensible nor justifiable at all, Your Honors.

Supposedly a gargantuan problem besets the Philippine Mass Rail Transit system that is one of the sectors dominantly held and controlled by foreign interests.

What does Anglo-Philippine Holdings mean to you? To the average rail commuter? What does MRTHI mean to any of us? Or the banks LBP? DBP? Nothing, obviously, except that they own 100 percent of the Metro Rail. On the other hand, the government now completely owns and runs the Light Rail Transit – that is no longer in private hands.

These entities Anglo-Philippine Holdings, Metro Rail Transit Holdings, Land Bank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines and other closely linked institutions determine the life of every commuter that steps on board an MRT coach.

For those injured in the recent MRT mishap at the Pasay Terminal, look for the people behind Anglo-Philippine Holdings, Metro Rail Transit Holdings, Land Bank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines, et al to sue. With the incumbent regime officials on their side, taking their defense while at the same time stabbing their backs.

So now the government is ending the back-stabbing and the enormous shame that goes with it and claim the MRT as a public sector asset. Remember what they say when a utility is in public sector hands? Its transactions will reek of corruption so the government determines to unfollow and unfriend the model of U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, Europe and others in privatizing government assets.

The regime of the late Madam Corazon Aquino started the privatization frenzy in the Philippines. This was followed by the succeeding Philippine presidents since and now Mr. Aquino wants to buy back the debt to Metro Rail Transit Corporation (MRTC), a subsidiary of Metro Rail Transit Holdings (MRTH) which in turn is co-owned by Anglo-Philippine Holdings also peculiarly known as the APO.

What is in store for the MRT riding commuter? More accidents? Real to goodness mass casualty incident where a train smashes through a throng of vehicles and people involving no less than fifty to a hundred dead and two, three hundred injured?

And all because you can’t buy newer more functional coaches, ride more people, allow unsafe buses, jeepneys and shuttle vans to dominate the transport system.

Buses are no longer allowed in city streets in Metro Manila.
But lobby money keeps flowing and they continue to terrorize
the streets of Metro Manila with abandon threatening to kill
at any time with the government always looking the other way.

For the favored few under this regime, quislings or significant others, their fortunes will balloon, as in the time of the late Madam Aquino when all of a real sudden too many shining, brand new abodes kept springing up in large numbers in exclusive enclaves of the rich and announced as the trophies of the late Madam’s sycophants, lickspittles and doormats. Good for them, meanwhile the troubles that await the poor riding public are one too many.

Railways Incidents

Fourteen years ago, during the presidency of now Mayor of Manila, Joseph Estrada the Light Rail Transit (LRT) was subjected to serious and deadly assault from supposed terrorists. In a series of fatal bombings coinciding with the commemoration of the martyrdom of Dr. Jose Rizal on December 30, 2000, the most critical being on an LRT coach, twenty two people were killed and more than one hundred were seriously injured.

While there were purported arrests made of the perpetrators, up to this day, the real culprit has not yet been identified and placed behind bars. Some culprits may even be very successful and honorable today and no longer qualify as persons of interest.

For now, the incident may have maimed, wounded, injured only a few recently. Will this change? Will there be more in the future? Will there also be some foreigners thrown into the fire so the accidents will become international incidents? No one know as of now, but it will be a little more clear in the near future.

It is not difficult to surmise that if the gods get crazy they might just plant bombs in the trains like in the December 30 affair.

Yet this is not the worst part of the story.

Lobby money

There is big money in keeping the mass railway transit in its fledgling, skinny, malnourished state. The same regime generating pecuniary assistance and other gains from visibly cooperating generously and extremely cordially with the private owners of the MRT on the surface instead of keeping it in line (note the severely deficient performance of the maintenance contractor hired under this regime among the other defects in management) is also the very regime that gets friends-with-benefits from the lobby of the bus and other public transport utility companies servicing the same routes as the very aged, old and feeble Metro Rail – or as it were even the LRT and in some sense, also the PNR.

The security system of MRT and so with the other rail operations (LRT, PNR) sucks. Much money goes into skim and all the add-ons on the third party private security provider contract are never declared as the very freebies that the contractors brag about in their technical bid documents.

For the average riding public, they are not aware that the compulsory restricting ersatz at the terminals by security personnel are merely going through the motions of providing security. While useless items are banned from being brought into the riding platforms, no one is ever certain that the real bootie of terrorists will be detected and the suspects will be identified.

Can the security CCTV actually capture distinct images? Or are the freebie CCTV cameras simply analog pieces that won’t even measure up to cheap built-in cameras in pirate china phones? Was the MRT recent accident viewable in the MRT security CCTV video databank or no?

The riding public is in a lot of trouble riding those death machines. But the masses are helpless, so they will ride and ride and ride to their end up to kingdom come.

Tightened knot

Public Transport Utility companies have been given the marching orders to stay out of Metro Manila under the Philippine law but this is not happening.

The lobby by bus and jeepney operators is so palatable such that damned the riding public, if the mass railway transit system will die, to hell with the consumers, to hell with the public sector, Buses and Jeepneys will ride their merry way through all over Metro Manila railway routes and kill the mass railway transit system.

Jeepney accident in Makati City ABC Commercial complex.

In Marikina City nearly on the same period, 11 people were killed

in a similar jeepney accident. Nowhere are commuters safe from

these coughing, deadly machines equipped with truck engines.

So if government itself and its partners in the public utility transport companies are killing the mass rail transit, we ask again, why will government purchase the MRT? That’s the Billion Dollar question.

And its sicker than bombing 22 people to death and maiming, wounding more than one hundred others.

More than Fifty up to nearly Seventy Billion Philippine Pesos will be used to buy only the MRT, and as a result, the Philippine Government and the public that owns and finances its humongous expenditures (including DAP, family full twenty reasons for appointments and regular skim, Cabinet’s own safe keeping activities, Drilon’s multi million fancy houses, Congress’ diligent profitable Housekeeping and other shenanigans) will not even own a single dream railway coach.

With more than Fifty up to nearly Seventy Billion Pesos, it would be nice to have at least one coach similar to the bullet train for the public to enjoy riding in – instead of suffering in those running coffins that have open-close-open-close viewing windows for the bereaved to see their dead relatives.

No less than half of the Philippines populations’ one hundred billion people will be elbowing each other just to ride that one bullet train coach. Imagine the staggering revenue of servicing fifty million souls at fifty pesos per ride. (Bullet train ride will not come cheap, so fifty Philippine Pesos may be charged instead of just more than ten Philippine Pesos.)

But the bullet train, better be safer than riding in the MRT veritable death traps.

If you are an MRT riding commuter, in the space of months to more than a year under this regime you could possibly end up in a real coffin if the public sector does not get their act together and be more transparent.

Losing for gains

It is not the lack of political will that the railway system is not being allowed to grow and therefore with better revenue, to improve its services dramatically over time.

Despite the fact that the railway transit coaches are always loaded to the rafters, this is the not the actual expected captive market for the system. Much of the commuter market is siphoned off by the secondary public transport utility services made up of buses, jeepneys, contract point-to-point minivan shuttle taxis, contract big van shuttles. Many contract point-to-point shuttle vans are even prowling the streets without licenses to operate issued to them from the government.

Contract fare Mini Van Shuttle figures in accident.

Too many of these utility vehicles are not even licensed

to navigate the streets of Metro Manila or the suburbs.

Thus, the greatest weaknesses of the Mass Rail Transit is that there are fewer than the desired passengers it can service, and therefore little justification for acquiring new coaches.

Ergo, without new coaches, no definitive growth for the railway service provider, except that the corporation that owns it, is already assured of money back guarantee by the government with fifteen percent profit once these owners appear to lose heart and place their money elsewhere.

For this reason, there is overload in nearly all coaches during rush hour and this might give a semblance that it is the real one and only mass transport choice of the people. It is definitely not.

Clearly the urban rail transport under both the Phillippine National Railways (PNR) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) I and II, started projecting sales that in terms of predicted income appear to be palatable to investors, there has been no realization of the plan to restrict buses outside the busy streets of Metro Manila.

When the project Metro Rail Transit (MRT) came off the drawing board it was launched at a time when there was anticipated greater losses than its pioneering counterparts. Just because there was absolutely no niche for the railways commuter services system in the Philippine transport market, as there is no room for railways cargo transport in the country.

What was supposed to be the Master Plan, along with the construction and installation of more railroad lines beyond the current 3 lines of PNR, LRT I and II and MRT. The original intention for the Philippine Rail sector was to build a network of more or less eight (8) rail lines (Lines A - H). Up to this time, only the three are in functional existence despite too many offers to build the same -- including building subway lines.

But there is the skim and the lobby funds to seriously think about before allowing the railways transit system to go forward.

Meanwhile, the regular dude and chick that goes to the train terminal each day and at limited hours at night and in the early hours of morning, have no inkling that a few unregular, scheming business people and managers of the regime are playing gambles and cashing in chips by the billion dollars simply because the foolish public keeps riding and riding the train to their possible final journey. They are so clueless they can’t even think about the best wording for their last will or for a quaint epitaph should they figure in a sham accident.

Train rams jeepney. This should not happen if jeepneys are plying routes

outside of Metro Manila busy thoroughfares and railway routes.

Source: Rebus 21

Themes: Accidents, Future Mishaps,Anglo-Philippine Holdings, bribery, corruption, DAP, dirty politicians, Metro Rail Transit Corporation, illegal public transport

Rescue Olympics

Rescue Olympics – RescueLympics

2014 version no. 2

Rescue is a universal concern. simply defined it is bringing a besieged, endangered human or any other living form (referred to as Victim or Casualty) to more safer place and circumstances.

RESCUE OLYMPICS

INTRODUCTION

There are about 29,000-35,000 highly trained individuals in the Philippines alone that are especially trained in rescue. Only about 10% of these individuals are able to participate in saving lives, safeguarding individuals or clusters of people in a community except during severe emergencies that affect their own life and that of their immediate neighborhood.

Within a universe of a 100,000,000 population, these rescue-trained experts will be no match to the coming of major disasters even within their own communities alone considering the ratio of roughly 1:3500.

There is a need therefore to promote and sustain an effort to teach everyone from young to old, males and females, at least the idea of self-rescue.

It is basically not enough to state, “Be prepared for calamity, Be prepared for disaster. Prepare a survival kit consisting of first aid, your important documents, etc.” No it is not enough. It is very important to introduce specific ideas, actions, skills, concepts to the entire population slowly, gradually what it will be required to be able to save one’s self from harm and danger before the onset of and during a disaster as well as after the catastrophe has occurred.

This is the basic vision and the fundamental mission of Rescue Olympics. Centre di Humanes et Societas Inc. believed since 1992 that the numerous highly trained individuals who are capable of conducting rescue, can be converted into virtual teachers of the public and serve as models in their own communities as well.

During the devastation by Yolanda in Tacloban and other parts of the country, especially those that were trained in rescue, had 100% personal survival including those of their own families. This can happen to average citizens, if given the chance to learn how to save themselves. Rescue Olympics determines to do just that.

To accomplish this, a nationwide challenge seeks to pit rescue teams and compete in skills and competence improvement games and challenges. RESCUELYMPICS will be held annually in games designed to heighten the alertness, confidence and expertise.

In essence therefore, Rescue Olympics, designed as a training tool for rescuers nationwide, will be an educational device and forum for our citizenry across the whole country. If broadcast and heard in real time and over and over again on national television and radio, printed on broadsheets and tabloids repeatedly, the concepts will little by little sink in, to the minds of our people and hopefully give them several second chances of enjoying life again, even after chilling and truly dangerous disasters.

SIMULATION

The special characteristic of the Rescue Olympics is that it will simulate or create a mock up of broad range mobilization of several rescue teams to form a rescue task force that will play the role of components of the same task force to attempt on a per team basis the rescue of the designated victim / casualty / patient.

NATIONWIDE CHALLENGE ELIMINATIONS

The skilled Rescue Teams shall qualify and participate in various challenges each year. The following are the games or challenges:

1. Extrication of Victim-Casualty trapped below ground
2. Extrication of Victim-Casualty on water
3. Extrication of Victim-Casualty trapped at high angle

Each team shall consist of six player-members:

1. The Team Leader
2. Medic
3. Two Technical Rescue Personnel; and,
4. One Personnel in charge of admin support to operations.

During RESCUELYMPICS, the Teams are presented several and unique conditions that challenge their capability to immediately and on-the-spot, form a Rescue Operational Plan (Rescue OP) and successfully extricate the casualty in the allotted time.

The scenarios include the following:

30 minutes Complex Rescue - The team performs a Triage and rescue three victims two of whose conditions worsened from an air line crash.

• 20 minutes Equipment No Holds Barred – No limit to the types of Rescue Equipment will be used to rescue one stable and entrapped victim.
• 20 minutes Equipment By Selection Only – Rescue that focuses only on very small tools and will not allow the use of sophisticated Rescue Equipment.
• 10 minutes Race Against Time – The teams perform a rescue of a victim whose condition has severely deteriorated and has only a few minutes left to live before being transferred to a medical facility.

GENERAL GOALS AND RULE ASSUMPTIONS

The project is proprietary to the Resource Recovery Movement and Executive Safety section of Centre di Humanes et Societas Inc., the Kampo Uno Rescue in partnership with BGen. Santiago Laguna of the Republic of the Philippines Bureau of fire protection and emergency rescue service (designated government lead First Responder) as well as the Office of Chairman, Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) as continuing joint pursuit with that agency for survival from risks brought about disasters.

The project originally determined to achieve the goal of assisting the first responder agency of acquiring adequate and improved communication base radio and portable hand sets as well as safety gear during rescue missions.

The objective is to challenge rescue - emergency service personnel to bring them to world class fitness and proficiency.

It also aims to raise the public consciousness of the global problems of demise and injury arising from unsafe practices, hazards in the environment among other important considerations.

Because it is a public event, it aims to promote the concept of self-rescue among the citizens and therefore increase their chances of safety, survival, avoidance of danger situations and minimization of risks in their own immediate environment and in the community as a whole.

The simulated nature of the competitions also seek to educate the public of the need to combine, pool talent, resources, time, commitments in order to effect successful life saving undertakings in limited conditions.

The proprietor does not reserve exclusive rights in the implementation of these games. A main implementor may be an independent organization coming from outside of the proprietor organization.

General rules and regulations are as follows:

The main implementor may be an independent organization instead of the proprietor under the rule that any proceeds from the annual event shall be shared between the Major Event Sponsor-Implementor and the proprietor on the following basis calculated from gross receipts:

First responder agency and
Major Event Sponsor-Implementor       - 80%
Proprietor                                - 20%

The main implementor shall engage the services of a reputable accounting-auditing firm to act as the accountant-comptroller for the event.

Proprietary owners of Rescue Olympics (RescueLympics) will raffle the final set of Judges selected and provided to the proprietor by the Major Event Sponsor-Implementor.

Contestants shall pass the Registration process to be considered contenders in the Rescue Olympics (RescueLympics).

Winners (Rescue Team) shall be provided incentive and recognition by the Major Event Sponsor-Implementor, first responder agency, the MMDA and other cooperating authorities.

Shown in the following Sections are the Contest Rules of the Rescue Olympics.

1 – URBAN RESCUE COMPETITIONS

2 – WATER BORNE RESCUE COMPETITIONS

3 – AIR BORNE RESCUE COMPETITIONS

4 – MASS CASUALTY INCIDENT RESCUE COMPETITIONS

5 – HIGHLANDS / MOUNTAIN RESCUE COMPETITIONS

Acknowledgments:

The template of the Rescue Olympics Urban Rescue Category for Metro Manila draws nearly its entire contest concept and rules from the Mine Safety and Health Administration of the United States and Leon County, State of Florida Rescue policies and procedures - Glossary of important terms.

To all of the individuals and organizations that provided useful ideas and concepts that cannot all be named here the authors would like to express their heartfelt gratitude.

July 5, 2014

Centre Humanes + Societas

centrehumanes@gmail.com

communitysafetysummit@yahoo.com

asiacommunications@msn.com

09212261611 09162728844 09174760651

Forecast on Power, Preventive Measures

August 4, 2014.  Manila.  The forecast of the international weather watch community for selected parts of Asia is light to heavy rain. For Manila, Philippines and major cities like Cebu, Davao, other parts of the Southeast Asian country, varying forecasts of Tuesday-to-Friday (August 5-8) continuous rains and Wednesday-to-Friday (August 6-8).

PAGASA predicts gale force winds during the same periods mentioned above.

It is inevitable that this will impact once more upon power facilities. If countermeasures are still not being undertaken to buffer the effect of heavy rain and gale force winds brought about by Typhoon Halong (Philippine code Jose), the public may once again anticipate possible power outages in selected areas in the country.

While media reports that the typhoon has weakened over time, it must be noted that storms are invariably finicky and can regain strength at any time. On numerous occasions, typhoons that made landfall in the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) and exited after some time, gather greater momentum and returns for another landfall in the PAR.

As the forecasts go, there is more rain than powerful, destructive winds that indubitably are the cause of storm surges.

As earlier cautioned on July 13, 2014, necessary steps must be taken to forestall sustaining great but unnecessary damage to power facilities. Thus it is most strongly suggested that, despite the burden of cost, retirable and extremely depreciated installations need to be condemned and replaced. Retrofits and repairs have to be conducted, more so now than ever before.

More efficient and more effective monitoring systems have to be put in place to pinpoint at once all kinds of non-regular performance of components of the distribution system.

Needless to say, the downtime and the cost to the power supplier but most of all the public at large becomes too enormous to bear when stopgaps that are doable are not put in place while there are occasions to do so.

Furthermore, appropriate new technologies for safeguarding the distribution process from tripping or sustaining enormous damage that will surely entail costly repair and rebuilding, ought to be acquired or harnessed to their fullest. More often than not, new methods and technologies form part of the set of stop gaps that power service providers must have to have better staying power.

It is possible that Meralco did not have good pro-active measures, a keenness to acquire or harness new technologies and techniques because it sank into the quagmire of debts amounting to staggering amounts like hundreds of millions to billions of US Dollars. As a result, Meralco today, is 51% owned by PLDT that is run by Mr. Manuel V. Pangilinan that in turn is taking orders from Indonesian and Malaysian investors (Salim Group) that holds the bigger stake in PLDT.

The irony is that, both PLDT and Meralco, are engaged in public services that ideally, should never be in the hands of foreigners as much as humanly possible.

Any enterprise in the power sector that will suffer the same fate as that of the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant (of Tokyo Electric Power Co.) knowing that pro-active measures could have been taken in advance, would be foolish to absorb losses that could really be avoided in the first place. If the public sector is vigilant, such utility corporations should be stripped of their license and permit to operate electric power distribution services and the opportunity needs to be handed over to more competent and qualified service providers.

A collage of images of damaged power utility facilities alone should give a hint as to the urgency of undertaking advanced planning and early countermeasures, particularly in these times of worsening calamities.

July 15-18, 2014 Philippines

July 17, 2014.  Manila.  It has been forewarned on July 13, 2014 that power utility installations will be among the physical facilities that will sustain the most damage from the tropical storm / typhoon #Rammasun or #Glenda. This kind of phenomenon will keep repeating itself over and over with the advent of more intense weather and climate disturbances in this new millennium.

Shown below is the portrait of damaged power utility facilities inside BF Homes Parañaque and Las Piñas alone:

July 17, 2014

In areas around the rest of the country and in South China (lowermost photo), the impact of Glenda on installations was staggering. (Photo credits: ANC - Yahoo; AvaxNews - Adrian Ayalin; Philippine Daily Inquirer; Straits Times; Xinhua News

July 15-18, 2014

July 19, 2014

Posted under themes:

#Rammasun  #typhoon  #Glenda  #Philippines