Mong Palatino

filipino activist, blogger, and parliamentarian

About

Mong has been a blogger since 2004. He is a youth activist and Member of Philippine Parliament representing Kabataan Partylist.

Archive for the 'places' Category

No to another Mendiola gate

Monday, June 21st, 2010

Malacanang Palace, supposedly the palace of the people, is now the fortress of a paranoid president. It is already reinforced with defenses that prevent ordinary Filipinos and foreign tourists alike from visiting or even taking a glimpse of the official residence of the most important public official of the land. Gate 7 of the palace [...]

Read the rest of this entry »

Road Politics. Road Economics

Monday, January 18th, 2010

“The only legacy of my favorite President (Cory Aquino) about which I have serious doubts are the flyovers, eyesores that cater only to car owners and do not solve the gargantuan traffic problems of a 21st century metropolis.” – John Vissers, Dutch News Correspondent, 1992 “Before the construction of the flyovers, one of the more [...]

Read the rest of this entry »

Shortage of runways?

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

“If people here don’t travel, it’s not because of a shortage of runway.” – George Monbiot The Philippines has more than 85 airports, 9 of which are international airports. That’s about one airport per province. Composed of more than 7,000 islands, the Philippines must have an efficient transportation network to move people and goods within [...]

Read the rest of this entry »

Old Highways

Sunday, October 11th, 2009

Before NLEX, what road did people use to travel to the north? Old McArthur Highway. Before SLEX, what road did people use to travel to the south? I don’t know. C-4 is EDSA (Highway 54); C-5 is a popular alternate route to EDSA; C-6 will connect NLEX and SLEX through a planned Lakeshore Highway near [...]

Read the rest of this entry »

Byahilo: Evaluating Philippine Tourism (2009)

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

Tourism continues to be a promising sector of the economy. It employs more than 3 million Filipinos (mostly in passenger transport segment of the industry). It contributes roughly 3 percent to the country’s GDP. It showcases the beautiful and exotic hotspots of the country. If the country is composed of more than 7,000 islands and [...]

Read the rest of this entry »

Railway politics

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

Eighty-percent of trips in Metro Manila are provided by the public transport system. To avoid vehicle overcrowding in the streets, the government has expanded the rail network in the metropolis. There are four existing railway lines: – Baclaran-Monumento LRT-1 which became operational in 1984. – North Avenue-Taft MRT-3 which started operation in 2000. – Recto-Santolan [...]

Read the rest of this entry »