u/cidercheesecone

Instead of the government creating a master plan for mass transit and building the city around it (like they did in Tokyo or Singapore), we allowed private real estate developers to dictate the urban landscape.

Wealthy families and corporations bought up massive plots of land to build exclusive subdivisions and central business districts (Makati, Ortigas, BGC, etc.) post-WWII. They secured the land first. The result? We built heavily gatekept areas for rich, and public transport became an afterthought.

After World War II, Filipinos adopted the "American Dream" model of urban planning which involved massive highways and sprawling suburban subdivisions. The overarching mindset back then was that eventually, everyone would own a car. BUT they did not anticipate the changes in the future.

Instead of investing in trains, our government built avenues and expressways. Railways were never the priority because the vision of progress was owning a car and a garage inside a gated village. By the time urban planners realized we desperately needed a massive train network, the land was already heavily developed and privately owned.

And our absolute biggest bottleneck today is the "right of way" because land privatization came first, the government now has to buy back incredibly expensive real estate just to lay down a single train track.

Whenever the government tries to build a new MRT/LRT line or a subway, the government has to buy the land at current market values. This costs billions of pesos that should have been allocated to the actual construction of the project. Private owners, corporations, and powerful homeowners' associations will aggressively fight the government in court. Temporary Restraining Orders are filed delaying vital projects by years or even decades.

Have you noticed how public roads and transit lines have to snake awkwardly around massive gated villages? Trains and public roads cannot pass through them because they are strictly private property. Famous example is the proposal of LRT/MRT line from Gilmore passing through Greenhills into Ortigas Ave to Pasig, then Taytay. An metro line in that area can decongest traffic in Ortigas Ave. extension but they can't do that because of homeowners privacy and the road is not meant for a railway. No anticipation decades ago.

Because we are trying to force a 21st-century mass transit system into a heavily privatized, car-centric 20th-century layout, we end up with terrible compromises.

This is exactly why our train stations are awkwardly positioned, why our elevated footbridges are ridiculously steep and narrow, and why the Metro Manila Subway is costing us an astronomical amount of money like engineers literally have to dig deep underground just to avoid all the ROW issues on the surface.

TL;DR: Metro Manila is currently paying the price for decades of allowing private developers to build car-centric hubs without a government-led mass transit masterplan. Building trains today is painfully slow and expensive because the government has to fight legal battles and pay premium prices just to reclaim the right of way from private owners.

Instead of the government creating a master plan for mass transit and building the city around it (like they did in Tokyo or Singapore), we allowed private real estate developers to dictate the urban landscape.

Wealthy families and corporations bought up massive plots of land to build exclusive subdivisions and central business districts (Makati, Ortigas, BGC, etc.) post-WWII. They secured the land first. The result? We built heavily gatekept areas for rich, and public transport became an afterthought.

After World War II, Filipinos adopted the "American Dream" model of urban planning which involved massive highways and sprawling suburban subdivisions. The overarching mindset back then was that eventually, everyone would own a car. BUT they did not anticipate the changes in the future.

Instead of investing in trains, our government built avenues and expressways. Railways were never the priority because the vision of progress was owning a car and a garage inside a gated village. By the time urban planners realized we desperately needed a massive train network, the land was already heavily developed and privately owned.

And our absolute biggest bottleneck today is the "right of way" because land privatization came first, the government now has to buy back incredibly expensive real estate just to lay down a single train track.

Whenever the government tries to build a new MRT/LRT line or a subway, the government has to buy the land at current market values. This costs billions of pesos that should have been allocated to the actual construction of the project. Private owners, corporations, and powerful homeowners' associations will aggressively fight the government in court. Temporary Restraining Orders are filed delaying vital projects by years or even decades.

Have you noticed how public roads and transit lines have to snake awkwardly around massive gated villages? Trains and public roads cannot pass through them because they are strictly private property. Famous example is the proposal of LRT/MRT line from Gilmore passing through Greenhills into Ortigas Ave to Pasig, then Taytay. An metro line in that area can decongest traffic in Ortigas Ave. extension but they can't do that because of homeowners privacy and the road is not meant for a railway. No anticipation decades ago.

Because we are trying to force a 21st-century mass transit system into a heavily privatized, car-centric 20th-century layout, we end up with terrible compromises.

This is exactly why our train stations are awkwardly positioned, why our elevated footbridges are ridiculously steep and narrow, and why the Metro Manila Subway is costing us an astronomical amount of money like engineers literally have to dig deep underground just to avoid all the ROW issues on the surface.

TL;DR: Metro Manila is currently paying the price for decades of allowing private developers to build car-centric hubs without a government-led mass transit masterplan. Building trains today is painfully slow and expensive because the government has to fight legal battles and pay premium prices just to reclaim the right of way from private owners.

I'm 22 kakagraduate lang, I don't know if tama lang na sabihin to, but I really don't feel at peace with my parents anymore. Hindi ko rin alam if nafefeel or nafeel niyo na ba rin to. Habang tumatanda ako at habang tumatagal, narerealize ko na nakakadrain sila kasama like parang wala talaga akong konsepto ng "home" kung saan ako makakapag pahinga, comfort zone, at maging ako mismo. Given na rin yung mga problema nila na they could have been resolved it themselves years ago tapos pinapasa pa sa akin as panganay na anak. Di ko alam if gets nyo yung pressure sa ganong situation tapos knowing na close minded pa sila.

For context, they didn't spend anything to my education sa college kasi i was a scholar, and everything i had to pay in uni was all by myself thru my mini-raket which is somehow nakatulong sa college journey ko. But those mini-rakets were not enough to live independently. So i guess wala sila pwede sabihin sakin na utang na loob ko sa kanila na dapat ko sila tiisin because of my education.

I might feel bad saying this but nakakalungkot na bakit di ko maramdaman yung pagiging at home sa sarili kong mga magulang? Or maybe i am just growing up? Nakakadrain na sila kasama, pati kasi tatay ko lahat ng mga palpak na desisyon nya sa buhay saming anak nya binabaling yung galit at inis, tapos anak niya sasalo ng lahat. Ang hirap kapag may magulang kang walang accountability sa sarili niyang buhay. Gusto ko nalang talaga umalis NANG hindi naman sana nila minamasama.

Sa Pinoy culture kasi lalo na sa matatanda, minamasama nila talaga kapag nagcocommunicate ka lang ng boundaries kahit respectful pa approach mo. Ewan ko, parang mas naststsress pa ko sa pag resolba ng problema nila kaysa sa paano ko plplanuhin sarili kong buhay. Gets ko na di nila kaya magbigay ng generational wealth pero awa nalang di ba wag naman generational trauma kahit suportahan na lang nila ako.

Sana mahanap ko yung lugar na kung saan may makaka appreciate sa akin, kung sino ako, kung ano yung talento ko at kakayahan ko, hindi yung mas iisipin pa paano ako magkakasilbi sa kanila. Ito ang aking childhood trauma, KULANG SA PANSIN or VALIDATION. Kaya tuwang tuwa ako kapag may nakaka appreciate sa akin. At nakakapagod na sarili mo lang lagi nangagaling yung suporta mo sa sarili mo at sarili mo lang nagvavalidate sayo.