LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “… The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons…” (1 Timothy 4:1, the Holy Bible).
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A PERSONAL TASTE OF UNMOVING TRAFFIC IN METRO: I was always of the thought that Metro Manilan’s claims of grave traffic problems were exaggerated, and aimed only at discrediting the already-discredited Aquino government, until Thursday, September 10, 2015, when I myself got a personal taste of what it meant to be stuck in unmoving traffic for about two and half hours straight.
At about 11 a.m. on that day, I left my free legal aid office in Diliman, Quezon City, to attend to the regular meeting of the Rotary Club of Intramuros in Manila, which is usually held from 12 noon to 2 p.m. on any given Thursday. I figured that in one hour’s time, I’d be in Intramuros already, the heavy traffic notwithstanding.
To make my travel faster, I decided to pass through North Bay Boulevard in Malabon City, after cutting through North Avenue and EDSA, Quezon City, and through the Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan City. I usually take this route in going to Intramuros, Manila, because of the relatively lesser vehicles using the route.
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CRAWLING AND CLAWING, FIGHTING FOR SPACE: When I reached North Bay Boulevard, however, I got the shock of my life, because there were very many trucks and cars and other vehicles lining up the road towards the piers in Tondo, Manila.
It was about 11:30 a.m., and the sight that greeted me—vehicles standing side by side with their bumpers literally kissing one another, and positioned ahead of one another as if they were neatly parked—immediately gave me an inkling I wouldn’t be able to make it to Intramuros at 12 noon.
Indeed, for the next two and a half hours, or until 2 p.m., I found myself literally crawling and clawing, and virtually jumping into whatever open spot there was on the road leading to Luneta, in a mad scramble to be ahead of everybody else. The other vehicles were hopelessly crawling and clawing, too, with many drivers—including my own driver—getting out of vehicles several times just to urinate and relieve themselves.
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TRAFFIC WOES UNSOLVABLE UNDER PNOY? So, okay, what really is happening to our country now? How come nobody seems able anymore to come up with effective solutions to the problems hounding us in our day-to-day lives, a situation which is very much unlike those we have seen in earlier times when, at a click of a finger or with the batting of an eyelash, solutions would come galloping from nowhere?
Why is it that, under the Aquino government, it would seem that we can no longer rise above our problems, and most often find ourselves trapped in poverty, in failures in everything we do or in the problems we try to solve, and in endless wrangling and dissensions, not just among our politicians from the administration and the opposition, but even among family members as well?
I can only agree that, because we no longer listen to God (by not reading and meditating on His Bible anymore) and because we no longer obey Him sincerely and truthfully, the 58 curses He promised to those who have turned their backs on him in the Bible’s Book of Curses, are now afflicting us, not stopping until we all perish, including our inability to solve the problem of heavy traffic. Really sad, don’t you think so?
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PLEASE LISTEN: “Ang Tanging Daan” (The Sole Way), a Bible study and prayer session on radio, airs Mondays to Fridays, 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., at DWAD 1098 kHz on the AM band. For replays, go to www.facebook.com/angtangingdaan or www.facebook.com/ANDKNK and scroll for “Ang Tanging Daan” broadcasts. Phone: 0922 833 43 96, 0918 574 0193, 0917 984 24 68. Email: batasmauricio@yahoo.com.
