Good News First: The
old jeepney and bus routes will be back! Almost! But still, it’s good enough to know that somehow,
some forces can still make pseudo-leaders and temporary benchwarmers of the
Batangas City Hall look stupid and let everybody know it.
Bad news for RD Dimacuha: He was forced to make the painful
decision of letting the old routes make the return of the comeback because they
have no choice.
Dr. Alberto Ariola, who made a deal with them to temporarily
use the land at the Diversion Road as
the Grand Terminal for all buses and jeepneys, turned out to be NOT THE REAL
OWNER of the land.
Dr. Ariola owns only
12 percent of the land, which was also owned by seven other people. Initially, City Hall’s press release said Dr.
Ariola, who was a high school classmate of Mayor Vilma Abaya-Dimacuha (VAD) was kind enough
to donate the use of the land for the Grand Terminal.
The walang kakwenta-kwentang praise release from the Batangas City’s Public
Information Office, as usual, forgot to mention that Dr. Ariola is only a
co-owner of the land, one of the 8 owners of the 5 hectare property where a
piece of land was used for the Grand Terminal.
It turned out that the seven other owners of the land
berated Dr. Ariola. As in pinagmumura dahil nga nakipag-deal sa mga
Dimacuha. Their exact words were : “ Why
do you have to deal with crooks in the city hall when you know too well that we
are not selling our land. And we don’t need crooks to deal with!”
The other owners of the land, it turned out, are not really
into selling the land, and are rich enough to live comfortably abroad, without
having to sell their property.
It was the same 5-hectare property that the mayor’s son and
executive officer RD Dimacuha and Councillor
Marvey MariƱo,
VAD’s son in law were selling to Robinson Corporation where the supposed
Robinson’s Place Batangas City was in their grand dream of putting up.
To sell the property, RD and Marvey should device a way to
turn the property into a commercial area---in the middle of the Diversion
Road---in the middle of NOWHERE!
And so, they made the Grand Terminal in the Diversion Road
and drove all the bus and jeepneys to go there.
LTFRB laws say that transport terminals should never be near a busy
street. Diversion Road is not just a
busy road, IT’S A HIGHWAY!
And so, aside from the commuters getting the worst time of
their lives in the barriotic Grand Terminal with no facilities for human necessities,
more and more people risk their lives going there everyday.
Not to mention the families of the drivers who went hungry
because of the loss of income due to the rerouting.
So now, RD has no choice but to return the old route.
Naghangad ng kagitna, isang salop ang nawala! Abogado ito ano? Bakit
ganun? Ang akala namin sa mga abogado eh matalino?
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Not to mention the cases that the jeepney associations and bus companies have filed
against them in court.
Not to mention the
abala and added fare of the passengers that the City Hall can never refund. As if they care!
Not to mention the expenses of putting up the terminal,
having the free rides on the first week and the money spent came from city hall budget could have been
used for things that are really necessary.
Instead of RD’s whims and dreams of getting the commission from the sale
of the land. That did not materialize.
And so the Grand Terminal will be abandoned after all the
money spent on it, and the sufferings of the people who had no choice but be RD’s
victim.
Not to mention the commuters who were injured, and the others killed when they were hit by speeding vehicles in the diversion road!
Not to mention that RD used the people and the resources of the
Batangas City Hall to implement this rerouting that was intended solely for his
own wallet.
In the end, it was double whammy for everybody!
Yan naman kasi, kasabihan nga dine sa City Hall:
ANG NAKIKINIG KAY RD,
WALANG BAIT SA SARILI!