TMC to implement agreement with TRB at NLEX by July 1

GUIGUINTO, Bulacan—Vehicles with top load above seven feet will be charged for class two vehicle category at North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) toll plazas starting July 1.

This came as the Manila North Tollways Corporation and its NLEX operator, the Tollways Management Corporation (TMC) implement an agreement with the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB).

Bobby Bontia, TMC Vice President for tollways operation said that under the MNTC and TRB agreement, vehicles with two axles and top load above seven feet are supposed to be charge under class two.

However, in the past years, such vehicles were only charge for toll fee under class 1.

Bontia that TMC has been distributing leaflets to motorist since last month to inform them of the changes on toll fees for the said vehicles.

”We are implementing the agreement by July 1,” he said noting that vehicles with top loads above seven feet were being charged under class two category at the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) for a long time.

 Bontia said that vehicles with two axles and top load below seven feet are considered as class one vehicles and are only pays and initial P45.

But class two vehicles which were describe as with two axles and top load beyond seven feet pays and initial toll fee of P114 along the NLEX.

As head of the toll operations of the TMC, Bontia said they will place market on every toll plaza along the NLEX in order to serve as reference for motorists on the actual height of their load.

This developed, Bontia also announce that by next month, the MNTC will open the new Bocaue Interchange on the northbound of the NLEX.

Like its south-bound counterpart, the new interchange will have three toll booths for TMC to start collecting toll fees.

Road approaching said interchange from the NLEX was widened to accommodate more vehicles.  The MNTC and the TMC are also coordinating with Bocaue municipal government to widen the road after the interchange that leads to Bocaue and Sta. Maria towns.

Bontia clarified that the Bocaue north-bound interchange is not part of the open system implemented by the TMC along the NLEX.

He said the open system is only between Marilao and Balintawak interchange.  (Dino Balabo)

DOST automated rail transport is back on track

By George Robert Valencia III, S&T Media Service

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) switches on the green light to make way forthe continuation of the development of the first all-Filipino mass transport system in a ceremonial awarding rites on June 19, 2012 at the Traders Hotel.

The awarding of contract to Miescor Builders Inc to construct the 465-meter test tack in the University of the Philippines Diliman campus is part of this year’s celebration of the Metals and Engineering (M&E) Week, according to DOST’s Metals Industry Research and Development Center.

The AGTS will run on a track that curves from the CP Garcia Avenue near the CHED building to the area of the College of Arts building. To construct the track is the Miescor Builders Inc.,a leading construction and engineering company wholly owned by the Meralco Industrial Engineering Services Corp.

“The Automated Guideway Transit System or AGTS willbe the future of mass transport systems,” DOST Secretary Mario Montejo said.

The AGTS is one of DOST’s high-impact technology solutions and is the first among DOST’s several proposed public transportation systems for Metro Manila, Sec. Montejo added.

Composing the project team are engineers from DOST-MIRDC, UP Diliman, and the Project Management Engineering and Design Service Office (PMEDSO). The team aimsto create a fully-automated, driverless electric transportationthat travels on an elevated rail or guideway.

The guideway will stand at an elevation of 6.1 meters supported by high-quality concrete material, while the train bodywill be composed of two adjoining coaches, each having 30-people capacity. Also, the coaches will roll on rubber tires instead of metal wheels to minimize track noise, andwill have bogies to ensure comfort and stability.

According to Engr. Jonathan Q. Puerto, Officer-in-Charge of the office of the Deputy Executive Director of DOST-MIRDC, the test track in UP Diliman will help MIRDC to fine-tune the technology’s mechanisms and operation, which include speed, stability, brake distance and power, among others.

“If all goes as planned in the construction of the guideway, we will be able to initiate the testing in October,” said Engr. Puerto.

Aside from being locally developed, theDOST’sAGTS isenvironmentally soundas it is non-polluting. It is also reliablebecause it is fully automated, and safe because the elevated guideway will not get derailed or cause road accidents. The AGT also helps reduce traffic congestion and its economic costs, estimated at P140 billion annually.

Some countries that are reaping benefits from the AGTS technology at presentinclude the United States, Japan, Singapore and Canada.

“If these countries can do it, so can the Philippines,” Sec. Montejo said.

The AGTS project is monitored by the DOST’s Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development.

Rains halt classes in Bulacan, Ipo dam spills water

MALOLOS CITY—Heavy rains on Sunday night to Monday morning led officials in Bulacan to suspend classes in selected schools yesterday.

This developed as the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) allayed fears of possible flooding after Ipo dam started spilling 30 cubic meters of water per second at 6 a.m. yesterday.

The Pampanga River Flood Forecasting and Warning Center (PRFFWC) also issued related warning to communities in low-lying and high tide-affected areas in Bulacan and Pampanga.

Provincial Administrator Jim Valerio said that as early 6 a.m. yesterday, Mayor Orencio Gabriel of Obando town declared suspension of classes in all levels in his town.

The schools covered included the Bulacan Polytechnic College (BPC) campus in Obando town along with elementary and high schools.

Valerio said that the most part of Obando went underwater due to heavy rains which aggravated the daily rise of tidal water.

In Norzagaray town, Mayor Feliciano Legazpi also suspended classes in elementary and high schools due to heavy rains.

Classes in elementary schools were suspended in the mountain town of Donya Remedios Trinidad.

In the coastal town of Hagonoy, school administrators decided to suspend classes in elementary and high school due to heavy rains and high tide.

In Malolos City, classes were also suspended in Barangays Dakila, Tikay, Sumapang Matanda and other low lying villages.

Mayor Christian Natividad of Malolos said the impact of night-long heavy rains varied from place to place with some areas in the city hardly affected.

“We left the decision to school administrators,” he said.(Dino Balabo)

DOST to launch nationwide disaster mitigation program

The Department of Science and Technology is set to put into place a nationwide disaster mitigation system that will help key agencies and personalities make informed decisions to save lives and properties.

Called NOAH or the National Operational Assessment of Hazards and Risks, the program is designed to serve as sentinel that will address the serious challenges brought by extreme hazard events.

“The NOAH Project will enable the government to address the serious challenges brought by extreme hazard events,” DOST Secretary Mario Montejo said. “We will apply advanced S&T tools, such as enhanced vulnerability maps and a shortened six-hour monitoring and warning system for communication along the major river basins.”

NOAH will have seven components that will address major needs in various disaster situations. These include Hydromet sensors development, DREAM-Lidar, FloodNET, Hazards information media, Landslide hazards mapping, Doppler system development, and Storm surge inundation mapping.

With the DOST on the lead, NOAH brings together experts from 21 institutions in close collaboration, including  DOST’s PAGASA, PHIVOLCS, Advanced Science and technology Institute, and Science and Technology Information Institute; Department of Interior and Local Government; University of the Philippines National Institute of Geological Sciences and Department

In a country frequently visited by typhoons, tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, some of them highly-destructive, the NOAH project comes as helpful as Noah’s ark in biblical times. Natural hazards inflict loss of lives and costly damage to property, with economic losses amounting to billions of pesos each year. Moreover, the continued development in the lowlands and the rapid growth of the population contribute to the damage to infrastructure and human losses.

“This project is so far the most advanced measure implemented by the government in disaster mitigation,” added Sec. Montejo.

NOAH will be formally launched at the National Institute of Physics in UP Diliman, QC. on 18 June 2012 at 2:00 PM. (Framelia V. Anonas, S&T Media Service)

Miss World-PHL candidates added glitter to Independence day rites

MALOLOS CITY—President Benigno Aquino III is not the only person who provided color and glitter to the 114th Independence Day celebrations at the historic Barasoain church here on Tuesday.

There is also the 25 Miss World-Philippines pageant candidates led by the Cory Quirino, the country franchisee of the pageant that send the most talented, intelligent and beautiful Filipina to the world stage.

Clad in colorful upper garments and shawls, the 25 candidates including the lone Bulakenya Ivy Ocampo of Paombong sat by the stage where the President spoke while facing the Barasoain church.

Participants to the celebrations, including journalists cannot help but look at the President, then to the pageant candidates.

Bulakenyos hailed the President for leading the annual rites here.

This is due to fact that n the past years, guest speakers to the annual rites have range from a sitting senator of the republic to an undersecretary, which historian objected noting it reduced the importance of the Barasoain church where the first Congress was convened in 1898.

Housed at Barasoain, said Congress ratified on September 1898 the independence declared by the late General Emilio Aguinaldo in Kawit, Cavite months earlier.

The following year, on January 23, 1899, the Malolos Congress ratified the first republican Constitution that gave birth to the first democratic republic in Asia and Africa.

The said events gave Barasoain the honor of having the Senate President or the House Speaker as guest speaker in the annual rites, but receding sense of history led to lower officials to lead the annual rites.

This was reversed for the first time on Tuesday with the President leading the annual rites.

His presence was made more colorful by the pageant candidates, but some Bulakenyos cited their lower garments as too short, thereby showing more skin of their legs.

Cora Sityar, said that the lower garments candidates were inappropriate for the occasion.

But other Bulakenyos would careless.

After the President delivered his Independence Day message and walked down the stage for the recessional honors, the pageant candidates also walked across the plaza in the hope for a brief group photo session with the President.

But I didn’t happen as photographers along with other people with cameras came flashing and clicking, thereby blocking the space between the candidates and the President who was then shaking hands of Bulakenyo supporters at the other end of the plaza.

In the end, the candidates just stood by the walkway where the President entered earlier and individually shook hands with the President as walk out of the plaza.

Filipiniana for NLEX toll booth tellers, workers

GUIGUINTO, Bulacan—Toll booth tellers along the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) wore Filipiniana dress during the June 12 independence day celebration, a bold move that drew approval from motorists.

Bobby Bontia, the Vice President for Tollways management of the TMC which manages the NLEX, said it was their way of joining the annual rites.

He said that tellers usually wear white colored uniform while manning the toll both.

But since May 26, when they joined the celebration of the National Flag Day, he said that tellers started wearing a scarf in traditional tri-color of the Philippine flag.

“Motorist wear surprised and were happy with the way out tellers look,” he said noting that some motorirst commented that it was some sort of refreshing.

 

The same were echoed by Edison Sta. Ana and Rosemary Dela Cruz.

They said that some motorists took time to ask they what they were wearing and what it was for.

“They were happy and really like what we are wearing,” Sta. Ana said.

Despite slowing down to ask tellers, Bontia said it did not affect the toll both operations along the NLEX.

He said that motorists comments have encouraged them to ask tellers to wear Filipiniana dress  last Tuesday and on June 16th.

Bontia added that TMC is now considering using Filipiniana Dress as part of the regular uniform of employees and tellers.

He added that by December, they will encourage similar thematic use of uniform on certain days.

To encourage NLEX employees, Bontia said they came up with an internal contest on who will be the best dressed employee wearing the Filipiniana.

This developed, Francisco Dagohoy, the media specialist of the TMC said along with the Filipiniana Dress contest, they are also holding a best decorated toll booth contest.

 The thematic contest led tellers to decorate toll booths with posters of Filipino heroes, historic places in Bulacan and Pampanga, along with historical events in the country.

Dagohoy said the twin contest has engaged employees while helping others to be reminded of the importance of independence day.

Futbulakenyos now leads CLFL, beat Tarlac FC in home game

MALOLOS CITY—Bulacan-based football team outplayed Tarlac Football Club (FC) to score a 3-1 victory in their third game in the Central Luzon Football League (CLFL) on Saturday.

Emmanuel Robles, coach of the Futbulakenyos FC said the victory was bitter sweet as it was their first game at home, but hardly watched by Bulakenyos as football still have to gain popularity in the region.

Futbulakenyos first played in Tarlac and Pampanga where they defeated Lighthouse Amihan FC of Olongapo City, and Pampanga FC, respectively.  They now lead the CLFL with 3-0 win-loss card.

The game started befor 4PM at the Bulacan Sports Complex at Barangay Sta. Isabel here on Tuesday.

Composed of players from the Bulacan State University, the Futbulakenyos dictated the tempo of the game in the first 45 minutes and scored two goals compared to Tarlac FC’s one.

In the second half, younger and faster Futbulakenyos further increased the aggression on the Tarlac FC’s goal that saw the ball hardly leaving the Tarlac FC’s half of the field.

Despite the aggressive attack, Bulacan players only made one goal in the second has as Tarlac FC’s goal keeper was able to deflect some, while other attempts missed the goals by only few inches.

“We need to train more and work on our plays,” said Robles who expressed satisfaction on his players’ stamina and agility as they out-run and out-play Tarlac FC players.

While only few watch the game, Futbulakenyos show some shining moments aside from scoring three goals.

 

These include Futbulakenyos strikers driving around three Tarlac defender in different times

Organized last January, the CLFL opened its first season last May 20 with four competing teams from Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac and Olongapo City.

At present, Futbulakenyos leads the league with 3-0 win-loss card followed by Tarlac FC with 1-1; Lighthouse Amihan FC with 1-1; and Pampanga FC which lost its first three games.  (Dino Balabo)