Metro Manila | The Adobo Chronicles

Manila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – Last week, The Adobo Chronicles reported that Philippine President NoyNoy Aquino rejected the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, claiming that he was “under the weather” with a cold.

Today, the Office of the President announced that Aquino has also refused to take the MRT Challenge.

MRT (Metro Manila Rail Transit System) is a rapid transit line in Metro Manila along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA). Envisioned in the 1970s as part of the Metropolitan Manila Strategic Mass Rail Transit Development Plan, the thirteen-station, 16.9-kilometer (10.5 miles) line was the second rapid transit line to be built in Metro Manila when it started operations in 1999. It is operated by a private company operating in partnership with the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

Serving close to 600,000 passengers daily, MRT’s total ridership significantly exceeds the line’s built maximum capacity and experts have questioned the line’s structural integrity.

In recent days, public officials have been challenged to ride the MRT in order to experience first-hand the long queues, overcrowding, delays and technical problems that ordinary commuters face every single day.

Several public officials, including Senator Grace Poe and DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya , have taken up the challenge. Filipinos have been clamoring for Aquino to take the challenge.

In announcing that Aquino has refused to take the MRT Challenge, a presidential spokesperson said that the president is suffering from claustrophobia (fear of being in an enclosed environment) and agoraphobia (fear of being in crowded places). “It is not in his best interest nor the best interest of the country for him to take up the challenge.” the spokesperson said.

“It will also be very difficult for the president, a known chain-smoker, to ride the MRT trains where smoking is prohibited,” he added.

Pasig City, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – The Philippines’ Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) seems to have found the perfect solution to the metropolis’ daily traffic nightmare, and it has its unintended positive consequences.

MMDA has just reopened the ferry service along the Pasig River, enabling commuters to cut travel time between the cities of Manila , Makati and Pasig by almost two hours. MMDA says that the two ferries it has launched this week will greatly reduce the number (in the millions) of commuters that rely daily on bus and jeepney transportation to get to and from work or school.

Little did MMDA know that the ferry boats – dilapidated buses placed atop flat barges – is putting Metro Manila on the world map and has sent nervous chills to the Italian city of Venice, known for its gondolas. Metro Manila is on its way to being recognized as the Venice of Asia, thanks to the Pasig River ferry boats.

However, the new service is not necessarily getting all positive reviews from commuters.

Riders were exposed to trash floating in the river—plastic wrappers, broken chairs, Styrofoam—on top of the foul smell emanating from its murky waters. “It smells like rotting things, like a canal’s stinky water. I had to cover my nose all the time,” Jovy Cabilitasan, a 37-year-old Makati resident, said. Her aunt Paneng Loreto, 68, fainted, apparently from the boat ride and the river’s assaulting smell. Passengers also noticed illegal settlers who had turned Guadalupe Bridge into their shelter.

But the MMDA has dismissed these complaints, saying that eventually, riders will get used to it and the ferries will become a prime tourist attraction.