Wooden Electric Pole Cracked In Half

I was finally able to get a picture of this magnificent specimen of wooden electric pole. It is located in an area where a lot of road construction is happening so stopping to take pictures is not an option.  Luckily we turned down a road we had never taken before and so I was able to get a picture in full from a great angle.

What a beauty! 

Broken in half yet still standing because all the weight is resting on the electrical lines.  I wish I had the time to walk the entire city and take pictures of every single snapped, rotten, and leaning pole.  But apparently not even the electric company has time to do that!

Once More Into the Ditch

It's not just the congested traffic and unruly drivers which makes driving in the Philippines scary. It's also the many unprotected deep excavations and other road constructions scattered all about. I wrote about this a few months back.

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2017/10/highway-to-danger-zone.html

Look at this deep pit with nary a barrier except flimsy caution tape.

Fear of falling into these crevices is palpable when driving in the crowded traffic alongside the edge. I have yet to experience such a fall but one man has and he did not escape death.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2018/02/06/man-bike-falls-dpwh-drain-project-dies-587498

What a senseless and preventable tragedy.

In a separate interview, District Engineer Leslie Anthony Molina told reporters that since December last year, he has reminded the contractor to put up protective barriers or caution lines to prevent accidents in that area. 

“We advised them to acquire steel plates to cover the excavated manholes but the contractor said they were apprehensive of acquiring them as these might get stolen,” Molina said. 

When I read that I burst out in laughter.  What a joke!  I have heard excuses like this plenty of times. I ask why we can't get a doorbell and I am told because the children will play pranks. I ask why don't the cops just arrest those children since they found them drinking and playing with guns and I am told because they will just say the cops planted the weapons. It's always a ridiculous case scenario with no thought for safety or convenience or rule of law because the first thought is always: It might get stolen or someone might lie about it or something might go wrong.

I wonder is that why these construction workers so often have no boots but only sandals? They think their boots might get stolen?

This deep hole did not even have a flimsy caution tape! There was absolutely nothing to prevent this accident which means it's a miracle this guy is the only one to fall in and die.

But it gets even worse.

Despite the accident, Molina said that DPWH can’t sanction the contractor, who is obligated to finish the project as part of their contract. He, however, advised the contractor to assist Delos Reyes’ family with their needs, including burial assistance. 

Can't sanction them? Why not? This company should be sanctioned out of existence. Huge fines should be levied for each day there was no barrier and they should be criminally charged with negligence leading to death. The lawyers for Cebu should find a way for the city to get out of the contract so a responsible company can be employed. If this were not the Philippines this business would be sued to the last dime by the family but this is the Philippines and the family is lucky that the company has agreed to pay funeral expenses. Of course if this were not the Philippines this outrageous tragedy would never have happened because proper safety precautions would have been followed.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2018/02/06/dad-wont-file-charges-vs-contractor-587567

Alejo delos Reyes Jr., father of Norman, said there was no need for them to file charges against AR Adlawan Construction, as the company already committed to shoulder the funeral expenses of his son.

What this family needs is a bright lawyer who is willing to assist them free of charge or for a percentage of the inevitably enormous sum this company would be forced to pay in a wrongful death suit.

Stay safe out there on the roads!

Sleeping on the Truck

When the urge to sleep hits you better listen. Especially if it's night.  You don't want to be driving a truck packed with sugarcane when your body is exhausted. What better place to sleep than the hood of the truck?  So spacious and warm. Just pull over and climb on top!

And when the afternoon sun is burning down upon the earth why not get some rest in the shade? Just throw a hammock underneath your rig while it's parked on the side of a busy road and catch a few Z's.

Nothing more comfy than sleeping off the afternoon heat in a hammock under your overstuffed big rig while traffic speeds on by.  Just like paradise.

Family Living On A Construction Site

Last year the water company built a new water filtration or processing plant not far from my house.  I passed it everyday when I went running, taking pictures to document the building process.  Throughout the whole process it was obvious that the men working at the job laying the pipes and preparing the foundation were living onsite in a wooden shack. You could see all their laundry hanging about as well as their makeshift kitchen.

At a some point a family moved in. A few women and children just showed up washing dishes, washing laundry, and having a grand old time. I have witnessed many construction workers living on job sites but never have I seen a whole family move onto one. I took as many pictures as I could whenever I saw them out on the premises.  There was a blue cargo trailer which I was convinced they were all living in and the inside of which I eventually was able to photograph. It was filled with equipment so I don't think that was their temporary living quarters.

There is a story in these pictures but I'm not sure how to narrate it nor do I know what it is exactly. Did these children go to school? Where did they come from? Who allowed a family to live on the job site? Did the water company know about this? Is this against OSHC-DOLE safety standards? Does this family move from job site to job site or do they have a permanent home? Technically they are not on the job site because they are outside the fence but does that even matter?

It will be best to let these pictures speak for themselves.

The last picture shows the job nearly completed and the family, as well as the cargo trailer, gone. They disappeared just as suddenly as they appeared. 

The Dangling Light

This post is almost 6 months in the making.

14 August 2017

03 October 2017

08 January 2017

Philippians 2:10: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 

Philippians 2:11: And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

It's a powerful image.

The fake electric light of man is dangling in the wind, bowing before "the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world," Jesus Christ.  It's an image of our future of which the verses from Philippians solemnly warn us.

Or it's just another instance of lax standards regarding the electrical system. Who would believe no one has noticed this dangling street light head for the past 6 months? Leaning rotten wood poles, dangling lights, tangled wires held together by tape...how does the whole system not go up in flames?

Single-Serving Culture

Remember that scene from Fight Club where Edward Norton talks about his single-serving life?

"Everywhere I travel -- tiny life.

Single-serving sugar, single-serving

cream, single pat of butter."

Well, the culture in the Philippines embodies this single-serving principle.

Everything at the market and the ubiquitous sari-sari stores all comes in single-serving packets.

Oil, sugar, flour, lentils, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, vinegar, soy sauce, spices, coffee, cookies, they all come in one size serves all tiny packets.

Even the cell phone business is single-serving. No one here is on a monthly plan. Instead they buy 20 pesos of talk and text time.  This lasts for a day or two and they load up the phone again.

Is all this single-serving lifestyle convenient?  Sure.  But deadly.  Here is the result of all those single-serving packets:

Garbage ends up everywhere.

Heres how the cycle works.  Someone buys some cookies.  They toss the wrapper onto the street. The wind and rain propel it into the waterways. There it pollutes and clogs the flow of the water which causes mass flooding during the rainy season and typhoons. 

There are no public garbage cans. And there is no national or personal conscience that instills shame for being a litter bug.

Give a hoot, don't pollute? Not in the Philippines.

Everyone here is dropping their trash into the street. Why? Because someone will literally come along and sweep it up.  

So who cares?  You don't want to take someone's job do you?

The First (Leaning Electrical) Post of the Year

Would ya look at that.

Wow!

How does it stay up under the weight of all those cables? And the wind? And the rain? 

Reminds me of that poem by José Rizal with the famous line:

O, what a tangled web of cords Pinoys weave,
When they first practice to harness electricity.

It's a miracle that this pole has not toppled over into the street.

It's the leaning tower of the Philippines!

Always leaning and on the verge of crashing right into traffic but never actually falling. This pole, which is on the corner of a very busy street, must be invisible because surely a passing politician or  concerned citizen or electrical worker would have alerted the electric company to this situation and the pole would have been replaced.

Motorcycle Crash

Motorcycle crash!

What happened?  I don't know!  I can make an educated guess:

Motorcyclist with no lights on attempts u-turn and gets rammed by van who could not see him.  

These pictures anger me more than anything else. Such an accident is totally preventable. They weren't even wearing helmets. The passenger was alive but I don't know about the driver. I would be surprised if he made it seeing as he is stuffed under the van.

This is why PNP must patrol the roads and enforce safety laws. If they did this then people wouldn't ride around with no lights or no helmets. After passing this disaster scene I saw many more motorcycles and jeepnies and cars with no lights. 

Dying or being horribly injured while driving in the Philippines is a (preventable) tragedy waiting to happen.