the president’s been having a bad week, what with 21 areas under a state of calamity, on top of having to make an emergency landing on a flight to tarlac with his pet senatoriables, so maybe to cheer him up, and maybe to distract us, even give us a sense that we’re not totally helpless, here’s what his communications team cooked up: a twitter campaign with the hashtag #lubak2normal, no kidding. lubak, as in potholes. the message is, things are back2normal (the “new normal”?) so let’s get the potholes fixed.
Edwin Lacierda @dawende
Nothing is impassable. Help DPWH repair potholes on national roads by tweeting photos/details to @pcdspo w/ hash tag #lubak2normal
6:45 PM – 10 Aug 12 via Twitter for BlackBerry®Manuel L. Quezon III @mlq3
Shot through the heart the rain’s to blame you give lubak a bad name! Report potholes to @pcdspo to help DPWH fix. Tweet photo, location…
6:44 PM – 10 Aug 12 via HootSuite6:44 PM – 10 Aug 12 via HootSuiteAbi Valte @Abi_Valte
Lubak stops here. help DPWH repair potholes on national roads by tweeting photos/details to @pcdspo w/ hash tag #lubak2normal
6:25 PM – 10 Aug 12 via TweetDeck
nothing is impassable, mr. lacierda? what about the waterways that are. clogged. with. trash? the rain’s to blame for potholes, mr. quezon? hindi ba it’s the poor quality of materials? and lubak stops where exactly, ms. valte? the buck, i know, stops with the president, but lubaks are the last thing i’d nag the president about at a time like this.
but okay, i get it, nagpapa-witty kayo, nagpapa-cute, but puns are the lowest form of wit, did you know? and i suppose natuwa naman ang presidente? good job? lol?
gross, actually, na nagpapatawa na kayo, e hindi pa tapos ang krisis. at kahit pa matapos na ang krisis, bakit lubak, na hindi naman deadly, ang poproblemahin, sa halip na basura, which is super-deadly on all sorts of levels? mas madali kasing solusyunan ang potholes? mahirap kasing magpatawa tungkol sa basura?
the levity is unseemly, coming from government officials. show some gravitas naman. or fake it, at the very least.
The poor also rely on common carriers, like bus and jeepneys. Common carriers pass by roads. Roads with potholes increase vehicular accidents. Why is this a class issue?
hello, i believe that was my tweet, and this is my mother Angela’s blog. :)
the mere fact that it’s a hashtag makes it a class issue. who exactly is on twitter? how is a government campaign that seeks to fix roads, happening in a space that is limited certainly to those who have computers / cellphones with internet access.
and while we might say these roads are used by the poor pedestrians too, and certainly vehicular accidents happen to all of us regardless of class, a government that seeks a fix to potholes through twitter and the online community certainly isn’t taking responsibility for these roads. instead they are throwing that responsibility at citizens.
so the next time may vehicular accident dahil sa lubak they can in fact say: bakit hindi niyo kasi ni-report at ginamitan ng hashtag? kayo ang irresponsible.
in the same way that they say the reason we don’t know about weather reports is because we don’t follow DOST PAG-ASA on twitter. kasalanan pa natin.
Patching up potholes is like a band-aid solution to temporary wounds that doesnt affect the whole “bulok” system. Yes, the govt should initiate rebuilding our pathways but should not ignore more critical issues which no cosmetic image surgery can hide the bigger and ugly problem. ang problema is our govt always fall prey to populism approach to gain pogi points. On the other hand, how do you get the cooperation of the people to start a superficial initiative which may lead to your desired structural change given the Pinoy’s cultural mentality of bahala na ang diyos, sila na lang, its not my turf.
generally, Pinoy mindset are conditioned to Western style of analysis and prognosis, but our mode of behaviour and cultural habits are religiously oriental and Asian. I do not believe that comments in the tweeter or social networking do not create a ripple effect to influence the concerned majority to rock the boat so to speak. Only those whose personal stake and eoonomic interests are threatened comes out with a reactionary knee-jerk response.
nakakatawa? levity? its a hastag. it ought to be short and memorable. its also quite serious — they are asking folks to report and agencies to repair lubak.
whats the problem?
the hashtag’s form is irrelevant to the fact of whether it is timely for government to have come out with it at all.
at the time they came out with this, Malabon, Navotas, Bulacan, Marikina still had floodwaters. at the time they came out with this, a news report about a family eating rats to survive where relief goods weren’t reaching them also came out. at the time they came out with this, 21 cities and provinces were under a state of calamity.
potholes should’ve been the least of their worries. certainly it shouldn’t have taken up the time and twitter timeline space of any government official.
“Sugpuin ang kultura ng negatibismo”
iwaksi ang kultura na dedma sa basura.