Another accident involving a dump truck

On our way to UP Village yesterday, we saw a large dump truck rammed into the frontage of Bo's Cafe at Katipunan. From what we could see at that time, the truck had crashed into several cars parked in front of the cafe. Data also saw a motorcycle pinned by the truck. 

A couple of people were hysterical and a crowd composed of curious and/or angry people had gathered around the scene. It looked like the truck driver was unhurt and if so, the mob would most probably give him a dose of "street justice".

Too bad we were in a hurry to take photos, but it was quite a disturbing scene. Data called our friend at the Inquirer so that the accident could be reported and added to the growing stats of recklessness among bus and truck drivers. 

Later, we read from the Inquirer that the driver had "lost control" of the truck. It's the standard excuse given by all truck and bus drivers. Harsher punishment must be meted out not just to the drivers but more importantly the truck and bus operators.

 

Read the Inquirer Story.

Project Runway Philippines: Finale and Photos

Just came from Solar's special viewing-slash-party for the Project Runway Philippines (PRP) Finale. By now, you'll know who won. But before anything else, let me suspend you a little bit by discussing more detail. I previously wrote that Veejay's collection was a disappointment. I've since had a chance to take a closer look and I saw that his collection turned out to be elegant and well-made. The thing going against Veejay's work was his choice of fabric. Under the bright lights of the Runway, the fabric appeared washed out and failed to stand out.Philipp Tampus's collection was surprisingly fresh and his use of crochet was impressive. He went a bit too far on some clothes, but all in all, he also showed his mettle.


Aries Lagat's final salvo won over the crowd. As I mentioned earlier, he had a surprise twist in the end: an elegant short dress that transformed into three other pieces of clothing (see photos, below). I think this scored him a lot of points with the judges, and eventually got him the right to be hailed as the first winner of Project Runway Philippines. Congratulations, Aries!




And congratulations to the production team of PRP for neatly concluding the show.

PRP was able to successfully match the US version and even added its own flavor. Teresa Herrera is great as a host, the judges were smart and gave the contestants the right push, and Joji Lloren's mentorship added the humor and flirtatiousness that is missing from Tim Gunn. 

Here is another hallmark of PRP's Filipino-ness. In the US version, the stressful final round always brought tension among the contestants and even within teams. In PRP, however, the teams bolstered each other and the finalists were compassionate with each other.

Road Safety: Tighter Penalties for Transport Companies

Philippine buses are notorious for causing numerous accidents. Just yesterday, a Fermina Express (FermEx) bus trying to overtake at NLEX (North Luzon Express Way) smashed into a Toyota Revo. The impact was so great that it split the Revo in half and shrivelled the front of the bus to bits. (Inquirer story here)

I am not surprised. I have seen many FermEx buses driven by reckless drivers. But it's not just FermEx buses. Many other bus companies harbor reckless drivers.

A couple of weeks back, a speeding Joanna Jesh bus hit a car along EDSA, killing the car's passenger and burning the car. Unfortunately for the bus company, the victim of the accident was a doctor belonging to a prominent family (GMA News story here). This got the company suspended.

We need to make our roads more safe. To do this, good road infrastructure like lights and signs are not enough. We should also impose tighter penalties for the transport companies involved. Authorities should not just suspect the licenses of erring companies. They should also revoke those licenses and let better transport operators take over.