Roamer's Roundup Archives - Page 4 of 27

Federalism and Metro Manila – Part 2

October 25, 2020January 18, 2018 by The Urban Roamer

Previously, we have discussed the matter of federalism and how it can help address the issue of congestion in Metro Manila for the region to achieve a more meaningful development. But as was pointed out last time, decongestion is just part of the equation to achieve this goal of a meaningful development. The other part of the equation is equally important, and that is governance.

A metropolis of 17 kingdoms

Metro Manila, sadly, presently suffers from an ill-conceived system of government that has often prevented measures that would have enabled meaningful development for the metropolis. The thing is, Metro Manila today is nothing more than a set of 17 little kingdoms that have their own whims with no authority that administers over them, save for the President.

That is because these cities are classified as highly-urbanized cities. And under the 1987 Constitution (Article X, Section 12), highly-urbanized cities are considered as completely independent from the provinces, thus implying that these cities do not have an authority to answer to except to the President. (There’s the case of Pateros which is the only municipality in Metro Manila but being located in Metro Manila it is a de facto independent town in itself.)

Federalism and Metro Manila – Part 1

January 12, 2018January 12, 2018 by The Urban Roamer

In the coming weeks and months, the discussions to amend the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines will go full force. These amendments, if passed by the constituent assembly and ratified by the people, will mean a radical transformation of the way things are being run in the country.

One of these key amendments is the shift from a unitary form of government to a federal form of government. This means that the traditional highly-centralized powers based in Metro Manila will be devolved as the different regions of the country will have more say with regards to their respective development.

With that said, the question being asked is what and how will Metro Manila benefit from federalism. What does Metro Manila stand to gain from it, if any? Let this post provide some insight to these questions as we look at the metropolis’ own problems that not many people realize it has.

On The “Erich Billboard” Stunt

July 6, 2017 by The Urban Roamer

It has only been less than a week since July started but it seems there is one big issue that has pretty much defined this month so far. Yup, we’re talking about that “interesting” billboard that popped up in the Manila skyline recently.

The billboard, located at the corner of Claro M. Recto Avenue and Nicanor Reyes (formerly Morayta) Avenue, had an “interesting” premise. An ambitious, even crazy one, some might say. It was depicting a faceless guy holding one of those boxes that would usually contain a ring or necklace but instead contained a coffee bean in this case. Along with it was a message addressed to actress Erich Gonzales, addressing her in her full real name no less, by some guy identified as Xian Gaza saying that he “likes her a latte” (quite overused pun, I say) and asking if he can invite her for coffee.

Roundup Tidbits: Torre de Manila Postmortem, Remembering Mariano Que, and Line 1’s New Look

April 28, 2017 by The Urban Roamer

So many things have been going on around the metropolis this past few weeks. At the same time, we have not seen a Roamer’s Roundup so far this year so why not have this entry be the first Roamer’s Roundup for 2017, no?