BIZ BUZZ: Bus commuting hell

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade has been on the receiving end of brickbats in recent days, no thanks to the commuting hell that citizens experienced in and around Metro Manila during the Holy Week.

Recall that commuters suffered terribly last week due to a lack of transportation options that impaired their mobility at a time when many wanted to head to the provinces, or simply get home. Instead of fast commutes, what many experienced were long queues that resulted in waiting times that stretched for hours, just to catch rides to their destinations.

Of course, it was announced earlier that the Metro Rail Transit 3 commuter train system would suspend services early to conduct their annual Holy Week maintenance activities. But instead of buses taking up the slack, they were nowhere to be found.

And more critically, provincial buses that would have covered the lack of Metro Manila buses were not allowed to enter the metropolis despite the long lines of commuters everywhere.

Why? Well, Biz Buzz heard that transportation authorities decided to restrict provincial buses serving the northern routes to Bocaue, Bulacan, and no closer to the Metro Manila market that they were serving.

If one happened to be a traveler wanting to take a bus from Metro Manila to northern destinations, one had to find a way to get from the capital to Bocaue where all the provincial buses were waiting.

We asked around and, as it turns out, Sec. Tugade was only “following orders,” according to at least one source.

And the order was to make a certain area in Bocaue a transportation hub of sorts for buses serving northern areas of Luzon as well as those who want to travel to and from Manila from the north.

Incidentally, the location for this central bus terminal is very near the massive Philippine Arena in Bulacan—massive, but largely a “dead spot” for commercial activities when there are no concerts or mass gatherings in the facility. At most, the extent of business activity in the Philippine Arena’s vicinity are jeepneys, tricycles, small eateries and sari-sari stores.

Undoubtedly, having a transportation hub next door will be a boon to this area and promote greater business activity.

The question now is: Were millions of commuters inconvenienced just to create a transportation hub here? Why wasn’t the plan studied more carefully before being implemented in a haphazard manner?

It may be too late to appeal for common sense from the current dispensation, but maybe the incoming administration—whoever will head it—will be more mindful of the needs of commuters.

More importantly, though, if it’s true that Sec. Tugade was only “following orders” … whose orders were those? Watch this space, folks.

—Daxim L. Lucas

Settlement problem

Traders and stock brokers were greeted with headaches in the postholiday trading week after a “technical problem” hit the Philippine Depository & Trust Corp., halting the settlement process for two days.

Philippine Stock Exchange president Ramon Monzon confirmed the issue, adding that it would be fully functioning by Thursday.

There was some extra manual backend work involved for brokers, but the problem was indeed fixed on the appointed date.

Apart from their clients who might have sold shares and needed money on a certain date, brokers said the issue did not cause too many problems.

They were also grateful to their understanding clients even as they quietly mused the market was mostly spared from the glitch thanks to the woefully low trading volumes in recent days.

—Miguel R. Camus

SM wants green-minded Pinoys

The SM Store is marking this year’s Earth Day by calling on its customers to join it in making a conscious and deliberate shift toward green living.

“The idea that living green is not something that can be integrated in our day-to-day life should be a thing of the past,” said SM Retail Inc. president Ponciano Manalo, “As we’ve learned, even the simplest of changes in the way we spend can lessen our carbon footprint.”

To help customers make that shift, Manalo said SM Store strives to bring to the market affordable options through its vast nationwide branch network while keeping an eye on its own carbon footprint, and that of its partners and communities.

“We hope that with our joined efforts, our customers and stakeholders can reach a point where they will see how easy it is to embrace green living. More than being a commitment to our people, it is an investment for our planet,” Manalo said.

This shift also makes business sense as customers today are more conscious about their environmental impact, as noted in a 2021 Kantar study that said that 75 percent of Filipinos are actively looking for brands that offer products or services that can lessen their environmental impact.

Now that should make Mother Nature happy.

—Tina Arceo-Dumlao