White Washing in Manila’s Tunnel

What fanfare for something like this! ‘This is where your motor vehicle user's charge goes’, Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo says on this billboard.

We really expected a lot since a tunnel improvement project is more than necessary along EDSA, Manila’s main traffic artery. The tunnels are like driving into the unknown: no lights, no markings, just darkness. To make things even worse the tunnels are full of potholes which lead to the typical Manila traffic behavior: slamming on the brake and swerving. Can you imagine such kind of driving style in complete darkness? By the way, swerving in the tunnel saves lives since every morning some people are working in the dark tunnel to clean it. Don’t expect that a lane is closed for something like that. Life is cheap here.

We now learnt that there must be a shortage of motor vehicle user charges since the potholes are still there and no lights were installed. What was done is a classic: All walls were painted white. Given the pollution coming out of busses and jeepneys the President will have to set up another ‘tunnel improvement billboard’ next month to ensure that the walls remain white.