If you thought last Monday’s traffic armageddon was worse enough traffic to experience on this first week of August, well…think again. Especially if you live in the southern part of Metro Manila and beyond.
The Department of Public Works and Highways has recently announced that the southbound portion of the Magallanes Interchange (the elevated road network at the intersection of EDSA and Osmeña Highway) will be closed to traffic due to the ongoing rehabilitation project of the said interchange.
August 4 was yet another chaotic Monday as people were off to go to work, school, or whatever business that was needed to be done. Only that this particular Monday here in good old Metro Manila was more chaotic than usual. No thanks to not one, but two incidents of horrendous traffic that are the stuff of nightmares.
It all began early morning before daybreak when a truck along the southbound portion of C-5 near the intersection of Kalayaan Avenue, which originally got stalled on the road, began experiencing problems with the brakes and eventually rammed through 8 vehicles. One reportedly died in this collision and 7 others were injured.
August 3, 1902 was a significant event in the annals of Philippine religious history, and of the greater history of the country as a whole. On that day, a group of nationalists led by labor leader Isabelo de los Reyes sought to proclaim a new church as an answer to the issues of corruption, discrimination, and other abuses being committed by the Roman Catholic Church in the country, especially against Filipinos. It would be a church by Filipinos and for Filipinos, especially at a time when the ideals of the Philippine Revolution have taken a hold of the country that was struggling to find its own identity, especially in terms of faith which was dominated by Spanish frailocracy.
This new church would be known as the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) or the Philippine Independent Church, (PIC)* effectively breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church and the friars the Filipinos have long detested. To lead this new church, the founders turned to one of the leading Filipino priest activists who have long struggled to give Filipino priests more opportunities in Catholic Church. He was Fr. Gregorio Aglipay who eventually accepted the role and becoming the first Obispo Maximo of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente or Supreme Bishop of the Philippine Independent Church.
Normally, there is this perception that big businesses only have profits in their mind and could not care less for the welfare of the people. While that perception has factual basis to it to some extent, it must be stressed that not all companies are that cold and heartless, minding more about how they will earn rather than how they could help. In fact, some of them have made significant contributions in advancing the welfare of the nation.
Such facet of the business is known more as “corporate social responsibility” or CSR. These CSR initiatives are highlighted in an annual event called the CSR Expo, which recently had its 13th annual expo at the Glorietta Activity Center in Makati.