No, Chris. There’s a flood warning sign before you reach Mother Ignacia Ave.
It was like a scene straight from MTV Boiling Points (remember that show?).
UP Law student and philosophy summa cum laude graduate Christopher Lao have become an overnight Internet celebrity for all the wrong reasons. He was interviewed by GMA 7’s Jun Veneracion because his car was rendered useless by last Tuesday’s flashfloods (triggered by storm Kabayan). He babbled and ranted on national television that he was not at all aware that Mother Ignacia Avenue in Quezon City was impassable that morning because “he was not informed.”
Mr. Lao has been described as “dumb” and a “moron” by throngs of people online for his remarks (he even has two hate pages in Facebook). He became a trending topic in Twitter and Yahoo. Literally everyone has written about him, including The Professional Heckler (http://professionalheckler.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/fyi), New York Times reporter Carlos Conde (http://asiancorrespondent.com/61702/christopher-lao-a-flood-of-online-insult/), and the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (http://www.cmfr-phil.org/2011/08/05/on-the-christopher-lao-controversy/).
Come on, cut the guy some slack. Who among you have not blurted out downright stupid things when the going gets tough? I also don’t like the thought of dragging the name of UP (my alma mater) into this entire mess. Do you really have to emphasize “UP graduate pa man din” every time you criticize him for his actions? I really hate it whenever people do that. It’s as if UP graduates are supposed to be perfect all the time (since their shortcomings are forever magnified).
I want to correct the misconception that there were no warning signs in the area. My office is near Mother Ignacia and there is not a day I don’t see this huge sign in the intersection of Panay Avenue (which comes before Ignacia, if you’re coming from UP) and EDSA:
Given the strength of the rains that morning plus the fact that he is rushing home for his daughter (according to a Facebook note by his UP classmate Rowena Ricalde), it is understandable for him not to have read the sign when he was approaching Mother Ignacia. I’m not about to speak for him on that. But, at least, the whole world now knows what MMDA has been warning us about: “Tuwing umuulan, bumabaha sa Mother Ignacia Ave.” You’re better off taking Panay Avenue instead.
Yesterday, I posted Jun Veneracion’s reaction to criticisms about his interview with Christopher Lao: http://rightonthemark.wordpress.com/2011/08/06/gma-7s-jun-veneracion-reacts-to-criticisms-about-his-interview-with-christopher-lao/
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Perhaps it’s been too long since I’ve last been at Panay Ave., but if memory serves, Panay also floods ridiculously deep right around the area of the Civil Service Commission building. If that sign really does warn motorists to take Panay instead of Mother Ignacia due to flooding hazards, then not only is MMDA negligent, they are actively putting motorists in harm’s way.
Hi Raggster! Thanks for the comment. Appreciate it a lot.
Anyway, I haven’t seen any deep floods in Panay Avenue so far. Then again, it’s probably because rains haven’t been that much lately. Or who knows, MMDA might have solved the problem already. 🙂
Or maybe, baka in that area lang bumabaha. Come to think of it’s, CSC is in Banawe area already.
haha! I work near Mother ignacia too, but I haven’t noticed that sign. All i know is that it really floods there, which prompted the nearby condo to invest in what I think is an expensive drainage system.
I think our respective workplace is just a short distance apart. Haha. I work in C&E Publishing. 🙂
Re that drainage system: is that meant to address the flooding problem in the entire Mother Ignacia area or is it only intended for the area immediately around the condo?
I think it’s just to assure condo unit buyers that their payments won’t be in vain.
Hey, it’s C&E! Although di ako masyado napapadaan dun.
Hi, Kuya Anjo! Nice. You know our company pala. There are quite a number of UP graduates here. I saw KB apply last Friday. 🙂
What condo is that? Haha. What about yung Wil Tower Mall? Hehe. Naku po, Mr Veneracion must have been ribbed a lot by his colleagues in GMA for his interview with Mr. Lao. Haha