This Week in Metro Manila (April 9 to 15, 2018)

Mornings and afternoons of this week will be mostly sunny and partly cloudy since the summer season is approaching anytime soon. Temperature ranges from 32°C to 35°C during the day but the nights will remain cool and windy [1].

To cope with the intense heat of the week, one can cool down by swimming in resorts or visiting nearby beaches. For adventurous folks, they can use the opportunity to go hiking or cycling. While engaging in both types of activities don’t forget to bring a cap and slather on some sunscreen for some UV ray protection.

After months of complaints of ineffective and inconvenient services, the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) has increased its number of operational trains after undergoing maintenance during the Holy Week [2]. Now with 15 working trains, the MRT has increased its maximum capacity to 75% [3]. This increase hopes to shorten queues. An extra good news for Filipino war veterans: as a celebration of the Day of Valor and Philippine Veterans Week, the MRT will be giving them and one companion free rides from 5:30 AM to 10:30 PM from April 5 to 11 [4].

Another government effort to ease commuting woes is the crackdown on colorum vehicles, which are considered as one of the contributing factors to the metro’s heavy traffic [5]. Colorums are vehicles that do not belong to any valid, recognized franchise that operate as transport vehicles for consumers. The Department of Transportation (DOTR) formed its ‘Task Force Kamao’ (Task Force Fist) which aims to capture these said vehicles.

After President Rodrigo Duterte approved the closure of Boracay for six months, Cebu Pacific , one of the country’s airline giants, will cancel flights to and from Caticlan and Kalibo. The cancellation will take effect from April 26 to May 25, 2018 [6].

In additional news, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is proposing to switch terminal assignments in the following months. Under the proposed plan, Terminals 1 and 3 will be assigned to international flights while terminals 2 and 4 would be for terminal for domestic flights. The government is yet to decide if they will adopt this proposal [7].

References: