A PRETTY girl handed me this list on behalf of her boss. Make of it what you will, shopping list, wish list, New Year’s resolutions?
1. Stricter tests and medical exams for pro and nonpro drivers.
2. Maiden voyage of Davao-GenSan-Bitung Ro-Ro.
3. Repair Sangley airport runway, drainage, general works.
4. Feasibility study: cable cars in MManila, Boracay, Baguio.
5. MRT: Two new Dalian train sets; all 33 elevators and 24 escalators fixed Jan-Feb.
6. Award first phase of Mindanao Rail.
7. Award Los Baños-Legazpi phase of South Rail.
8. Award Malolos-Clark phase of North Rail.
9. On PNR, Naga-to-Legazpi route resumes Feb.
10. Start construction of LRT Cavite Ext. (Baclaran-Niog) in Feb; procurement of 120 coaches.
11. Integrated Terminal System: Southwest set for groundbreaking; South (FTI) starts April; North site still to be chosen.
12. Remaining eight of 10 multi-role response vessels due from Japan within the year.
13. Cavite Gateway Terminal, nonexclusive to ICTSI, to alleviate MM traffic with 390 fewer truck trips per day.
14. Ongoing, modernization of Mindanao/Visayas ports for easy container operations.
15. Starting March, OFWs’ plane tickets bought abroad exempted from terminal fees.
16. Starting Jan, more flights from Clark to Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Busuanga.
And there’s more, nearly 30 in all (24, to be precise). You may have guessed who’s Pretty Girl’s boss by now. DoTr Secretary Art Tugade not only has his hands full, there’s more than enough on his plate to keep him busy (with four to six meetings a day). He’s not satisfied with the “seven minutes improvement” in EDSA traffic. He’s teaming up with DPWH Secretary Mark Villar for a more rational delivery of infrastructures to move people and goods efficiently. And he has a road map – a dream, actually – to link the entire archipelago via transportation by air, land, and sea, within 30 years. It’s the kind of long-range, farsighted, futuristic planning that we’ve missed since the last century. Go for it, TU30! (Jullie Y. Daza)