By Robert BB. Roque, Jr.
I picked this up from a Facebook post, and while I’m not too sure it’s an adage traced to Japan, it makes absolute sense: “Whether it’s a machine, a house, or a relationship — maintenance is always cheaper than repair. What you don’t maintain, you eventually lose.”
That bodes true for many of our government infrastructure projects — roads especially — which often seem intentionally built to break. Again, in Japan, innovators have developed self-healing concrete that seals its own cracks in under 24 hours.
Reports have it that the additive uses silicate-producing bacteria that stay dormant until water seeps into a fissure — triggering a chemical repair process that restores 95% of its original strength overnight. No need for patch-up jobs, endless bidding, or re-blocking that snarls traffic for weeks.
That’s a miracle mix for concrete – a solution for road damage that ensures structural strength for extended years.
Bilyonaryo Channel had its anchors in quite a savage banter about the topic, with one suggesting it was “bad news” — a dig at contractors in cahoots with government officials who get kickbacks from return jobs on roads every couple of years.
Another said that more surprising than the technology was that it seemed no one in our government was interested in it. Then came the blunt punchline when the third anchor said it would probably be banned in the country.
A joke – yes. But one that probably would stick for being too cost-efficient and too short of kickbacks for our elected officials. These are the ones criticized by Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong for unprincipled, unpatriotic practices in office.
Unpatriotic
Speaking of lack of love for country, perhaps the President and the Vice President would be specimens of public service held by a higher standard.
But the frequency of their travels abroad makes me wonder. President Bongbong Marcos, for instance, has already racked up passport stamps like a billionaire on holiday, with his latest trip to India being his 35th foreign trip in three years. VP Sara Duterte, herself, has also been tracing the world map with her jolly band of brothers and sisters, especially since their father got locked up in The Hague.
At least one of them is surely spending public funds, and I won’t be surprised if both of them are. If not, Inday Sara is guilty of something worse — abandoning her work, her constituents, and the country.
In a speech in Korea, she casually declared, “Wala sa kalingkingan ang Pilipinas” compared with the countries she’s been with, including Australia, the Netherlands, and, yes, Korea.
She’s talking of the same country that elected her, gave her the second-highest post in the land, and paid for her pomp and perks. To look down on the very nation that held her high just like that while on foreign soil is not just unpatriotic or condescending — it must be a betrayal of public trust. Such impeachable behavior!
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