NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo According to Philippine Statistics Authority, the economy of Central Luzon grew by 5.6 percent in 2019. Service has the largest share in the region’s economy accounting for 45.1 percent. Industry accounts for 42.6 percent while agriculture, forestry and fishing is...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo In the Roadmap Study for Sustainable Urban Development in Metro Cebu – Japan International Cooperation Agency predicted the increase of economic activity in the province by 15 times its 2010 level and the creation of one million jobs should the bluprint be...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo When I was still in elementary, my father Manuel and mother Elnora, would tell me about the San Juanico Bridge, a 2.16-km bridge connecting the island provinces of Samar and Leyte. Whenever we went home to Iloilo, I’d often wonder why we had to take boats or...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo When Pigalo Bridge in Isabela was devastated by typhoons Pedring and Quiel in 2011, farmers who wanted to deliver their agricultural products to Manila or Tuguegarao had to take a 76-kilometer detour via Alicia-Angadanan-San Guillermo-Naguilian Road. Residents of...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo On our first few months in Department of Public Works and Highways, we have received the most number of complaints on Circumferential Road 6 — a toll free expressway we now call Laguna Lake Highway. At that time, it was full of large potholes — so large that we...
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 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...
