As a Muntinlupa resident who works in Makati City, I regularly drive through the Buendia flyover, which is now full of potholes just weeks after its rehabilitation that lasted more than three months and cost taxpayers millions of pesos. Rains have washed out the asphalt overlay in some sections of the bridge, an indication that the contractor used substandard materials. The state of the northbound lane of the flyover has deteriorated to the point that it is now no different from what it looked like in early May before the rehabilitation started. The contractor and public works officials who oversaw the rehabilitation should be held accountable for the shoddy work. Clearly, the public has been shortchanged. Instead of a “matuwid na daan (straight path),” the Buendia flyover has become a “lubak-lubak na daan (pothole-riddled road).” Paging Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson.—Juan Sarmiento Jr., Muntinlupa City
Sidewalk no place for pedestrians
Attention, Las Piñas Mayor Vergel Aguilar, the sidewalk in Pulang Lupa, in front of the District Hospital is occupied by stores and drugstores.— Anna, 45, Las Piñas City
Everyday woes
Every morning, motorists have to put up with being caught in heavy traffic for about 40 minutes to an hour as they make their way from Malabon to Monumento in Caloocan to Valenzuela. The sad thing is that there are five to six traffic enforcers in the area. I hope that the MMDA can do something about the situation.—Kelly, 43, Valenzuela City
Eat at your own risk
Caloocan Mayor Recom Echiverri, do the people cooking barbecue and isaw, laman loob (innards) on the sidewalk of F. Roxas Street and Health Avenue have sanitary permits? The way they prepare their food is unsanitary.—Sharon, 49, Manila
Traffic light needed
Calling MMDA, please put a traffic light at the corner of Zusuaregi Street And Capitol Hills. Delivery vans going to Commonwealth Avenue compete for the single lane along with cars going to and from Katipunan Avenue and residents of Capitol Hills. MMDA traffic enforcers can usually be found near Diliman Preparatory School.—Eve, 60, Quezon City
Maynilad responds
This is in reference to the complaints published on September 26 in Citizens’ Call regarding leaking water pipes in Manila, Las Piñas City and Caloocan City. We are pleased to inform you and the public that the reported leak at the corner of Abad Santos and Quiricada in Manila was repaired on September 24. However, due to the heavy rains, pavement restoration had to be rescheduled from September 26 to 30. With regards to the reported leak in San Antonio Valley 7 in Las Piñas, our contractor for the road restoration activity in the area resumed operations on September 29. We will update you and the public of any developments regarding this matter. The government contractor in charge of the road construction project on Gen. Simon Street corner Edsa beside Manila Central University in Caloocan City accidentally hit a portion of our pipe, causing a leak. We were able to repair the pipe on September 19. The government contractor who accidentally hit the pipe leak will be in charge of restoring the road. As always, we thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We hope that the public will continue to work with us in our efforts to improve our services.—Cherubim Ocampo-Mojica, Maynilad corporate communications head