Wednesday, June 11, 2008

A useless obligation and more.

I am not very fond of June. This is not because the month ends a long hibernation from work. While it puts to an end to an enjoyable summer, tours I have embarked on included, experiencing new cultures, making new and enforcing relationship with old friends, meeting new acquaintances and learning a lot of things, there is a different reason why I do not like the month of June. June is the time to work on my obligations, one of which is to register my old car at the LTO, purchase a new insurance policy and worse, take my car to an emission testing center to ensure that it is still street-worthy. Emission testing - what a hassle and a lot of waste of my valuable time. I would not have minded taking my car for testing if I am assured that the procedure does what it purports to do. Lessen, if not totally eliminate the terrible pollution on our air. What makes me angry is that I see vehicles which have just been registered, hence, supposedly have passed the test emitting a lot of dangerous smoke. Public buses and trucks are major culprits and the government could not do a thing about it.

Sadly, pollution in the country is so bad that this is the first thing my foreign friends who come for a visit, notice. Rightfully so because I have occasion to visit several countries and it has always been a delight to inhale their fresh air. Not so in the coutry. Try deep breathing and you won't last a single breath. The smog will stop your attmept making your lungs heavy and longing for clean air. If only government had a good political will to stop pollution, we could at least solve this problem. However, when police authorities do not care, probably because they have been bribed to look the other way, no emission testing or any procedure for that matter, will work. In the meantime, I have to worry about finding time to register my car and all the ramifications that go with it for I work on the days that these government agencies hold office. Pray tell me why these agencies do not open on weekends?

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Talking about cars, the increase in the price of gasoline seem to be unstoppable. Nothing can be done about this. This is a world-wide phenomenon. What we don't realize is that this entails a more horrific scenario than we think. It is possible that we are running out of this very important resource. Think about it. It took billions of years for an oil deposit to be built and this is not replenishable. With the way we consume this commodity, it is not impossible that we have used up all the oil this planet can provide. When this happens, we will have to go back to riding horses or walk our way to our destinations. No more planes or ships or even fast cars to take us to any far-away country or province in a short span of time. We will probably have to use the same kind of ships used during the galleon trade to go to America, for example. That is unless we find a substitute for oil.

Solar energy perhaps but research on this technology may been stunted by the powers that be for it would mean business loss for oil companies. However, with the advent of the depletion of the oil reserves, now is the time to look for substitutes and Filipinos, if given the chance and the encouragement, can face this problem head on.

19 comments:

RJ said...

meron akong nabasa mga 4 years ago na we are already in the dark ages of crude oil in the middle east. paubos na nga raw ang oil reserves, pero nakahanap na ng substitute dito, at ito ay ang paggamit ng natural gas.

kabi-kabila ang ginagawang planta sa ngayon sa magpa-process ng gas to make it a fuel. at isa na diyan ang tinitira namin ngayon dito sa qatar. ang magiging produkto nito ay parang diesel din pero walang emmissions.

tingin ko pagtagal mao-obsolete na ang mga sasakyang gumagamit ng gasolina from crude oils, at mapapalitan ng mga hybrids. pero sa pilipinas, hindi ko pa maimagine. tsk tsk.

batjay said...

balik tayo sa electric powered vehicles. hindi malayong mangyari in the next few years.

dito, usong uso ang mga hybrid - electric/part gas and it extends the gas milage to almost double. yung toyota prius claims that it could go 60 miles to a gallon.

mataas nga sobra ang pollution sa maynila. napansin ko nung umuwi ako lalo na pag naglalakad sa kalye. wala pa akong nababasa na study - but somebody should find out how much this afftects public health. i won't be surprised kung mataas ang incidence ng asthma at iba pang mga lung related ailments.

Panaderos said...

Regarding the emissions testing, nakakawalang gana nga if you play by the rules and then you find that others get away with it with impunity. Bus operators, PUJs, and trucking companies are the biggest polluters on the road. Unfortunately, may mga malalakas na koneksyon iyang mga kamoteng iyan sa LTO.

Regarding oil, France is being looked at again as a model. It derives much of its energy from nuclear power, a source that a number of countries are revisiting.

I liked your post about the windmills in Ilocos. We could certainly use a lot more of those. We could also use more geothermal energy since we have quite a number of volcanoes that we could use as energy sources.

Unfortunately, a lot of international oil companies are tapping other new sources of oil such as in areas of Canada and Russia. Thus, there are some people who would like us to sadly remain dependent on oil for many more years to come.

rolly said...

RJ MAbuti naman at meron nang gumagawa ng means para pumalit sa oil. We are so used to our lifestyle na palagay ko, mahihirapan tayo ng husto kung bigla itong mabago. Sige, paghusayan mo hane.

batjay Me nakita na kong mga hybrids sa car shows dito at ang husay nga. Sana maging standard na rin dito.

panaderos If we are going to let our leaders have their way, it seems like we will remain dependent for a very long time.

Anonymous said...

pollution is one thing i hate about the city. and i always look forward to breathing fresh air whenever i go back to cavite.

ayzprincess said...

kaya ako tito, never kong pinangarap tumira sa city kasi sa pollution..

at least sa mga nearby lugar ng maynila di pa ganun ka polluted.. may mga bundok at konting fresh air pa

akala ko, ayaw mo ng june kasi pasukan na.. dami na naman nateng work :P ahihih

cathy said...

pag nakita mo yong bagong "Air Force 1" ng sultan ng Brunei, kung saan ginto ang gripo, at ang mga bagong structures sa Middle East na ang bansa lang ito ang makakaafford, nakakainis makita kung saan pumupunta ang mga pagtaas ng gas.

alam mo naman siguro na sa SF, electricity ang nagpapatakbo ng mga buses. noon pa. Pati yong mga street at cable cars.

dito sa DC and Virgina, marami ng mga buses na natural gas ang gamit.

rolly said...

mae Oo nga, mas masarap sa probinsya no? Bakit ba nagsisiksikan tayo dito sa Manila?

ayzprincess Daming trabaho no? PEro di bale, kesa naman walang trabaho. Ang mahal ata ng mga bilihin ngayon.

cbs said...

sa florida dati may sub-agency na nagiinspect ng emmissions, pero nilasag ng sec of state kasi breeding ground ng corruption. kahit wala ito, walang ding pollution kasi may clean air act, which allows the state to exercise the power to deny or cancel registration dun sa mga obviously e nag-eemit ng maitim na usok.

tungkol naman sa alternative resources, maganda siguro unahin muna natin yung maliliit na bagay ukol sa pagtitipid ng energy, gaya ng pagsara ng gripo habang nagsisipilyo. sa travel channel, may pinakitang mas malawak na ambisyon ukol sa energy saving. nagtayo sa isang disyerto (arizona, i think) ng tinaguriang earth city kung saan may mekanismong nagpapaikot ng tubig. ang tubig na ipinanligo at pinanghugas ng plato ay mapupunta sa isang reservoir na syang gagamitin na pang-flush ng toilet at pandilig ng halaman.

anyway, magandang usapin na naman tong inihain mo, sir.

Anonymous said...

hybrid cars has a lot to offer nowadays in reducing pollution. I think it was in the year 1998 (not quite sure) when a Filipino engineer invented a water powered engine which is pretty good. Sadly it wasn't accepted by the DOST for patent. No reasons..So the Inventor plan to bring it in Japan. i wonder what happened to his beautiful creation. Perhaps the DOST could see that it will kill the Oil industry in the future. So as to make Middle East resources as good as junk.

Anonymous said...

Hybrid cars are great but still very expensive. Dito sa mga luxury models palang ini-intruduced.

I've heard of this water-powered car na na-imbento nang Pinoy. But I can't make of it dahil hinde inexplain ang concept. All I know of water-powered engine is a steam boiler.

Anonymous said...

Happy father's day, Tito Rolly. Enjoy your day. :)

Panaderos said...

Happy Father's Day, Rolly!

Anonymous said...

Happy Father's Day Ka Rolly!

Anonymous said...

as much as I am an advocate of finding alternative fuels/power sources, its still far from being cheap and widespread like the cellphone to person ratio in countries like here in the philippines. my brother mentioned buying a solar panel for our usage, but that's around a 1.5k php to 3k php small panel generating about... 5 watts... until solar (and theoretical power like cold fusion LOL) becomes cheap for the masses, many people will still be burning oil.

well we have no choice. some don't prefer to commute, walking/biking is not an option to others (depends on the situation, if you're not the sweaty type hehehe) we have no choice... for now... but i really hope researchers find earth friendly AND budget friendly power in our lifetime...

Anonymous said...

it seems such a hopeless case for air pollution in the Philippines. busy kasi ang mga kinauukulan sa paghakot ng pera for the bulsa to give serious attention to such matters like pollution, education, health, etc.

marami nang studies about effects but they are all ignored. nakalulungkot talaga.

Anonymous said...

i heard that the government is looking into resurrecting the BNPP for an alternative source of power...

Anonymous said...

riding horses would be quite a scenario. haha. bagay na bagay sa mga ayalas at zobels.

rolly said...

Sorry guysm, I know I've responded to these ones before but somehow, I don't see them now. I wonder why.

Anyway,

Cath I think I did see that from a forwarded email.

cbs Exactly. Breeding ground talaga ng corruption yan. E ang dami ko ngang nakikitang katatapos pa lang magpa register e ang kapal kapal ng usok na inilalabas. How did it ever pass the test?

ray Talaga? Walang binigay na reason ang DOST? hmmmm

blogusvox alam ko rin medyo mahal pa ngayon ang mga hybrid cars. Nakakita ko ng mga ganyang klase nung umattend ako ng isang car show.
Thanks sa pagbati. Sayo rin.

Connie and Panaderos Thanks

Joseph D It may be expensive now but wait till it becomes the normal way of life. I think it will be a lot cheaper na.

Mari Yan ang mga sayang na mga proyekto na ginastusan ng malaki and all for nothing.

eloisa Aba, hindi malayong mangyari. The Zobel's have a stable just in front of the school ata.