AGAIN, I say you’ve got to give it to Ramon S. Ang a.k.a. RSA, the indefatigable San Miguel Corp. top gun bent on endlessly gunning up his own humble pitch on nation building no matter the odds. One of a kind; he truly is.
Dismissing his critics as mere detractors, he has pursued his passion to help the country’s insatiable drive for socio-economic-political stability, doing it even at the expense of puncturing his own pocket just to get the job done.
Legend has it that he has spent—continues to spend—his hard-earned billions to help finance massive road-building networks in the metropolis such as the skyways and expressways snaking through the neighboring provinces South and North of the National Capital Region. Hasn’t the opening of his Skyway 3 tremendously helped ease traffic at Edsa and other choke points in the Big City?
Alongside these projects are RSA’s state-of-the-art mass railway transit systems, including his latest babe called the MRT-7 stretching from Quezon City to Bulacan’s San Jose del Monte. Once this 22-kilometer rail network gets completed next year, it would redound to thousands of passengers seeing their daily trip cut from a hellish two-plus hours to a wondrous 45 minutes or thereabouts.
Less travel time means more productive hours spent for manufacturing and a vibrant economic activity.
“Our work continues non-stop so that we can hit our target operations by end of 2022,” RSA said, whose Skyway 3 opening recently saw an almost instant growth surge in the region and its environs.
So far, four sets of trains have been installed at the MRT-7. Two more Hyundai Rotem trains have recently arrived, putting on course the coming of the 36-set chain-cars from South Korea by the end of 2021.
“As always, the mass transport system is the backbone of our mobility solution for the betterment of the living conditions of the Filipino people,” said RSA, who is also the country’s exclusive distributor of BMWs.
I couldn’t agree more.
PEE STOP After Tuason Racing’s successful Round 1 of the GITI-Formula V1 action-packed four races in September-October, it will stage its Round 2 on December 5 & 6 and December 15 & 22, also at Clark. Vrrrm, Ms Nikki Viola!…My friend, Abel Manliclic, whose love for his Alphard comes in second only to his comely wife Malu, serves the legendary Hainanese Chicken at its finest through his Tiong Bahru joint now in Quezon City at Scout Torillo (tel. nos. 0945-7293908 & 86530765). Cheers, Abel! Burp!…My family’s condolences to the loved ones of Romy Gacad, Agence France’s famed photographer, who recently succumbed to cancer. I couldn’t forget the nights we drank Aussie wine when we covered the 2000 Sydney Olympics with our buddy Ernie Sarmiento. Before his posting in Jakarta, Romy paid me a visit. We killed a bottle of Hennessy. Almost each time we raised our glasses, he’d say his favorite line: “The universe is unfolding!” Rest in peace, Romy.