NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo When Secretary Mark Villar first assumed position in DPWH — he did not have a lot of public inspections. He would quietly go from one province to another — without any notice or advice. He would always tell us it was important to put the proper systems in place...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo Almost four years after President Rodrigo Duterte launched its “Build, Build, Build” program, Philippine government’s most ambitious infrastructure plan — computer-generated images which were once used to present a vision are turning into actual roads and...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo In 2017 — I attended the Emerging Leaders Program at the Harvard Kennedy School which was chaired by Dr. Elaine Kamarck and Dr. Christopher Robichaud. In our class on ethics — we discussed about the responsibilities of public action via a simulation exercise of...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo The land area of Tokyo is thrice the size of Metro Manila but the vehicle density in Manila is higher. There are about 9.3 million vehicles competing in PH’s limited road network. In 2016, majority of the 32,770 km of national roads are at saturation levels —...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo When I was in college, I dreamt about the Philippines I did not see. I wanted to explore the 81 provinces with my own eyes, to meet the Filipinos who live there, to find out their dreams and aspirations. As I jump from one province to the other, I realized that...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo A few years back while attending the Leaders in Development programme of Harvard Kennedy School, our professor asked us to write one thing which we aspired to achieve in the next ten years. We wrote it in a piece of paper and placed it beside our name card. I...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo In 2016 — when we started Build, Build, Build, critics said that the EDSA Decongestion Program is mathematically impossible, that it cannot be done, that President Rodrigo Duterte was over promising, and that Google Maps does not support such assertion. They...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Y. Lamentillo In 2011, the Asian Development Bank examined walkability and pedestrian facilities in Asian cities. It showed that in Manila, like Hanoi, a sizeable number of the trips could be made by foot and bicycle because the average distance traveled per trip is low. Data...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Y. Lamentillo When the construction of Skyway Stage 3 started, I was a freshmen in law school. Almost every day, I’d pass by the same alignment which, if completed, would cut travel time from North Luzon Expressway to South Luzon Expressway from 2.5 hours to only 30 minutes. At...
Anna Mae Y. Lamentillo If you are a thalassophile like me, then you’ll love the newly completed Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX), an 89.31 km expressway connecting Tarlac, Pangasinan, and La Union. Whether you’re surfing in San Juan, or cliff-diving in Tangadan Falls in San...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Y. Lamentillo The problem surrounding the 90-year-old Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), — a 23.8 km circumferential highway — needs no introduction. The project which was started in the 1930’s has long exceeded its maximum capacity of 288,000 vehicles a day. Now, there...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo The novel coronavirus has disrupted the global economy within just a few weeks. The pandemic has locked down cities, brought travel and tourism to a near standstill and disrupted life in an unimaginable way. What were considered the most mundane activities two...
