Added (7 July 2022): English translation may be found below the version numbers.
Dear Dumpling,
Running some errands today. Nasa bus ako habang sinusulat ito. Ayun, inabot na naman ako ng trapik, as usual. Nakakatawa na sa dami ng solusyong naisip at napatupad, lalo lang lumala ang sitwasyon.
Naisip na nagdagdag ng linya. Magtayo ng flyover sa ibabaw ng EDSA. Magtayo ng flyover sa ibabaw ng Ilog Pasig. Nung naging abot-kaya na ang lumilipad na sasakyan, dumalas ang bangaan sa hangin. Kaya ayun, nagtakda ng mga limitadong ruta. Ang resulta: trapik.
Bakit kasi takot ang gobyerno na bawasan ang mga sasakyan sa kalsada. Di magalaw mga private car owner kasi takot makasuhan. Ang pinag-initan jeep, pero ano na nangyari? Mas matanda pa nga yata sa akin – at sa iyo – itong dyip sa tabi ko e. Ang itim ng usok at lakas ng kalampag.
Naalala ko tuloy yung usapan natin dati tungkol sa mass transport. Sabi mo, kaya mas gusto mo mag-kotse kasi convenient para sa iyo. May locker ka pa ng gamit mo. Gusto kong sabihin, kaya ang trapik dahil sa mga kagaya mong ganyan din ang paniniwala. Di naman dahil sa bus o sa jeep kaya ang bigat ng trapiko e. Dahil yan sa mga nakakabili ng 2 o 3 sasakyan para makaiwas sa number coding.
Gusto kitang sabihang "Check your privilege". Kaso suko na ako. Mahal kita e.
Pero hindi ko pinalaki ang mga anak natin na dumepende sa sariling sasakyan at mang-agrabyado sa kapwa, lalo na sa mga commuter na wala namang kasalanan pero sila pa ang nahihirapan makasakay papasok at pauwi.
Malamang nagtataka ka kung bakit nasa bus ako. Nasaan na yung mga tren na lagi kung sinasabi sa iyong pinakamagandang solusyon sa trapiko? Wala, nganga.
Di na nga nagtayo kasi lugi lang daw. Di makapagtaas ng presyo. Karag-karag na tuloy mga natitirang tren dito. Yung nasa EDSA nga, di na tumatakbo e. Museum na lang. Pucha.
O siya, nandito na ako. Tuloy ko next time. Love you.
<3 Dad
P.S. Sorry
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Version 1.0, 23 January 2020
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English translation:
Dear Dumpling,
Running some errands today. On the bus as I'm writing this. And of course, I'm stuck in the middle of a traffic jam. What's new? A lot of "solutions" have been proposed, and carried out, only for the situation to turn out worse.
Additional lanes, a flyover/overpass/freeway on top of the main road, a similar one on top of a barely-recovering river. When flying vehicles became a reality, mid-air collisions became far too common. So specific lanes had to be fixed. So much for air travel, huh. No different from building a skyway. The result: bottlenecks, in the sky.
Why is our government so afraid of reducing vehicles? Can't touch private owners for fear of being sued. Went after jeepneys instead, public transport, but what happened with that? I bet the jeep beside the bus I'm riding now is older than me, and you. If you could just see how black the smoke coming out of the poor creature is. You can just feel it shuddering. Someone put the jeep out of its misery.
I recall our conversations about mass transport. You insist on using your SUV in the name of convenience. You have your own portable locker.
I wanted to say that such thinking, when shared by a lot of people, have led to the quagmire we are in. The problem lies not with buses or jeeps. At the end of the day, traffic is caused by those who can afford to buy two or three vehicles just to evade number coding (a scheme to reduce the number of vehicles on major roads by banning for one day vehicles with plates that end with a specific number).
Oh, dumpling, if only you knew how much I wanted to call you out. I struggled not to utter those haunting words, "Check your privilege." But I gave up, all in the name of love.
But the buck stops with you, with our generation. I raised our children not to depend on their own vehicles, in the process being a burden to their fellow people, especially for commuters (people who entirely depend on public transport) who are powerless to change things and have to suffer getting rides to work and back home.
You may be wondering: why am I taking the bus? What happened to the train I kept telling you about would be the silver bullet? Error 404: not found. Allegedly, the feasibility analysis showed that it was not profitable since prices could not be increased. The train running on the main road? It's virtually a long museum.
Time to get off. I'll continue next time. Love you
<3
P.S. Sorry
---
English version 1.0, 7 July 2022
BINABASA MO ANG
Dear Dumpling (Wala na, Finished na; Completed)
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