Tiger City

Mayor Ben Hur Abalos of Mandaluyong City suddenly grew green hair in this billboard along Ortigas near the Greenhills area. It seems that no one ever bothered to get rid of the cadena de amor that has begun to creep on the billboard that calls the attention of city taxpayers.

If you notice there’s a tiger’s image beside the good mayor’s marble name plate to signify Mandaluyong City’s claim as a Tiger City. I am not sure why it wants to be referred to as such, because the only “tiger” that I often see in Mandaluyong is the endless heavy traffic especially in Kalentong and in Shaw Boulevard, the city’s main thoroughfares.

In the old days (some 30 odd years ago), I rented an apartment in the area (which was not a city then) and the situation in Kalentong then is practically the same situation now. Maybe I should even contradict myself. It may be worse now.

The worst place to be is the area just at the foot of the Lambingan Bridge. I know that this is not Mandaluyong territory but this is the place that one has to go through to get to the city from the Sta. Ana, Manila area. On a lucky day, during rush hours, it takes some half an hour to get through the Lambingan Bridge to Shaw Boulevard, a distance of about a kilometer, give or take a few meters.

I say lucky because you have to be both a patient and skillful driver to avoid being hit or hitting the ubiquitous jeepneys who make turns every which way, stop at any which place and load or unload passengers anywhere they wish to.

City traffic enforcers and even uniformed police officers seem to be perfectly at home with the chaos. I am not sure whether Manila Mayor Fred Lim or Mandaluyong Mayor Ben Hur Abalos even give a damn about this whole chaos. It’s probably the least of their worries.