Bansalan Cooperative Day

By virtue of PROCLAMATION NO. 493 by the President of the Republic of the Philippines, the month of October has been declared as the Cooperative Month. As we all know, Cooperative is a legal association of people uniting themselves together to attain common goals in both social and economic aspects of development. In the province of Davao del, the cooperative month celebration was launched last October 1, 2008 at the Provincial Capitol Gymnasium , Matti Digos City with no less the Hon. Governor Douglas Ra. Cagas as the Guest Speaker.

In the different municipalities in the province, coop leaders, members and advocates have been doing activities to add color to the celebration. It is in this unified spirit that the Cooperative Movement in Bansalan will also celebrate the Bansalan Cooperative Day this coming October 30, 2008. . The whole day program will be held at the ABC Gym. In order to make the celebration more meaningful, a Holy Mass will be celebrated before the program proper. It is expected the all cooperative members in the locality will be joining the Coop Quiz Bee, Parlor Games and other events. The MBM Zonal Federation of Marketing Cooperatives had voluntarily donated One Head Cattle as the Major Prize for the quiz bee. Game mechanics shall be patterned after the well-known TV Show Pera o Bayong and Wowowee.

The Cooperative Day celebration will be spearheaded by the Local Government Unit of Bansalan in coordination the the Cooperative Development Authority, MBM Zofemco and the Municipal Cooperative Development Council. The program will start at a new time schedule known as THE COOP TIME. COOP TIME means starting and ending the activity as scheduled. Coop Time is the opposite of tardiness, it is the time to come early to talk about progress and development.

The 4 -day Dry Run of the One Way System

Last October 11, 2008 (Saturday ) many motorists were surprised to see " DO NOT ENTER SIGNAGES" in some parts of the Public Market. Traffic aids and officers were instructing the motorists to follow the new system correctly. It was a new system for the great majority. People were surprised about the new set up. Upon conversation with the traffic officers , they said they are conducting a dry run of the proposed one way system in the public market. The dry run will be for the period of four(4)days.

As a concern citizen, I took the initiative of documenting the traffic flow hoping that the same can help in the implementation of the new system. As a matter of fact, I submitted the said document to the Chairman of the SB Committee on Transportation a couple of minutes before the start of the committee hearing yesterday. I cited matters like: (a) traffic flow is quite impressive with the new system (b) consider the income of the business in the public market as well as the collection of the Economic Enterprise Management Office; (c) consider the reactions and comments of the tricycle drivers and passengers; and other details.

Yesterday (October 15, 2008), motorists were also surprised after seeing that the one way system has been suspended. The dry run had garnered diversified feedbacks from the public. It had revealed both advantages and disadvantages. Among the many things that is obvious is the reality that there was no massive information about the dry run per se. People were not aware that the new system was just experimental. Consequently, the suspension of the dry run also happenned very quickly. Traffic officers removed some of the DO NOT ENTER signages. Other signboards were just turned sidewards and the motorists begun to get confused. Some bus drivers were not aware that the one way system has already been suspended. This phenomenon had almost brought me to an accident last night.

A while ago, at around 6:00 PM I was nearly nearly hit by a Weena Bus coming from Davao City going to Cotabato . I entered the public market following the way of Viacrusis St. (fronting petron) because the DO NOT ENTER SIGN was not already installed in the that place. When I reached the curve section adjacent to the bridge and Centeno building, I noticed the same thing,…the DO NOT ENTER SIGN was not there anymore. Seeing this, I drove straight to the usual lane going to the terminal, when suddenly an air-conditioned Weena Bus going to Kidapawan also occupied the same lane. The bus driver thought that the one way system is still effective. On the other hand, I contemplated that the one way system was suspended because the DO NOT ENTER SIGNAGE were already removed. I had no other choice except to give way to prevent further trouble. Bystanders can testify that I was riding a white multivan with my wife as my sole passenger.

I immediately, asked the weena conductors and dispatchers if they were informed of the changes. The answer was NO. To my mind, I cannot blame my co- motorists because we were not properly informed regarding the result of the DRY RUN. In my conversation with other motorists, they pointed out that they do not even know that the One Way System is still a Dry Run.

I don’t simply give comments; I proposed alternatives because I believe that we all wanted a peaceful and well-developed local economy. My wife and I had almost lost our innocents lives a while ago. With this phenomenon, I am proposing these alternatives to our town's elected officials:

a. The public must be well informed regarding the duration of the dry run. Simple fliers and streamers may be posted and displayed in the conspicuous places to bring about awareness to the public, rather than just simply putting “DO not Enter” warning devices which are written in bond paper and cartolina using pentel pen . The public must be properly informed by means of announcement, posting and other related means.

b. Traffic officers and personel must coordinate with the management of the passenger buses and other motorists regarding the effectivity of the dry run as well as the suspension of the one way system to prevent accident.

c. All traffic warning devices shall be completely removed if a particular area is already open for entrance and exit rather than just simply turning them aside which may often create confusion to the public.

d. Traffic warning devices shall be presentable because they are government properties. Some of our DO NOT ENTER SIGNAGES are just written on bond papers and cartolina using marker pens.

I guess, the problem here is about COMMUNICATION GAP among the policy makers, traffic officers and personel and the public. I do believe that all of us deserved the right to be properly informed so as to prevent accidents and chaos. We should not place the lives of our people at risks. Laws and rules are designed to create order in the community. However, if they are not properly implemented, the exact opposite might possibly happen.

Accident Prone Area

Accidents and calamities may happen at any time, but they could be prevented if we anticipate their causes.

I had furnished the Barangay Council of Rizal, Bansalan Davao del Sur with a printed copy of my photo-documentation relevant to the safety of the motorists and commuters passing in the area near the Rizal Bridge. Several cases of accidents happened here in view of visibility problem. While trees are environmentally -friendly, yet, if it would cost the lives of many, then, what benefit can it bring to mankind?

Below is the list of my recommendations as frequent traveler and concern citizen:

1.trees should be pruned so that motorists coming from both north and south bounds can see each other;
2.bushes should be cut down to bring about better visibility;
3.“Accident Prone Area” signage should be placed in order to give warning to motorists.

While the design of the concreted road is not properly angled and the location of the bridge is “blind curve”, we can still make alternatives for safety purposes. Better visibility should be present by way of trimming down branches and cutting off the bushes.

The Cooperative Month Celebration

By virtue of PROCLAMATION NO. 493, the month of October has been declared as COOPERATIVE month. Pursuant to this, the Province of Davao del Sur, thru the Provincial Cooperative Development Council, had iniated the conduct of the Opening Salvo of the Cooperative Month Celebration. Last October 1, 2008, cooperative leaders and supporters came as one family as they open the cooperative month with a Thanksgiving Mass at the Provincial Capitol Gymnanium, Matti, Digos City.

It couldn't be denied that majority of the participants came from the Municipality of Bansalan. Records of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) reveals that there are 35 active cooperatives in Bansalan. These socio-economic institutions had succesfully participated to the said affair with the support of the Local Government Unit of Bansalan, the Municipal Cooperative Development Council and the Cooperative Development Authority.

Series of activities had been done to include; coop motorcade, coop banner raising, socio - cultural contest and the like. Bansalan's participation to the recently opened Cooperative Month opening salvo is another manifestation that cooperativism is very much alive in our town. It can be recalled that during recent celebration of the 56th Araw ng Bansalan, the cooperatives had also succesfully participated to the conduct of Agri-Trade Fair featuring coconut by-products.

This month's celebration carried the theme ; Cooperatives: Breaking thru barriers and beyond. In a situation where economic crisis is prevalent, people should unite to fight against poverty thru cooperativism. Cooperatives has to hurdle these barriers by way of doing business that will answer the common needs of its members.
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