REMOVE them!
That was the strong and direct order of Tanauan City Mayor Angeline “Sweet” Halili after getting the green light from the Commission of Audit (COA), relative to the controversial and expensive planter boxes spliced on top of the center island of President Laurel Highway.
P200-M project
Per city hall records, the planter boxes that recently came under fire, were erected during the short administration of Atty. Jhoanna Corona.
It was allegedly part of a P200 million beautification project released and approved accordingly in haste before the election ban on projects took effect prior the May 2019 midterm elections.
Aside from the cries of protests by netizens of Tanauan, a survey also showed that almost 90% of residents are “bothered by the structures as they hamper the views of motorists and pedestrians alike from the other side of the street.”
Accident-trigger
And this, they said, resulted in numerous accidents on pedestrians and motorists crossing from both sides.
Corona, however, could not be reached for comment. Our query remains unanswered until this writing.
It may be recalled that Corona, who is now a provincial board member and touted to be running for vice mayor in tandem with former District 3 Congressman Sonny Collantes, assumed office when then Mayor Thony C. Halili was slain by a still unknown assassin in July 2018.
No politics
For her part, Mayor Sweet Halili made it clear that there is no political color whatsoever on the removal of the planter boxes.
Rather, the city is only doing it owing to popular demand by Tanauan citizens so as to avoid more road accidents, she said.
She “just heeded hundreds of calls from netizens and Tanaueños who really hate seeing those structures” a city hall insider who requested anonymity said.
As it now became part of Mayor Sweet’s zero-budget citywide beautification program, the gradual removal of the concrete planter boxes is only being done at night so as not to affect traffic flow and local business.
Blindside areas
“Marami na rin po talagang nadisgrasya dahil hindi po magkakitaan ang mga liliko na mga sasakyan at ang mga tatawid na pedestrian dahil sa taas ng divider island na iyan,” a netizen said referring to the controversial island.
“Especially if you are coming from the old city hall office, marami na ang nadisgrasya sa intersection riyan near Mercado (hospital) dahil hindi mo makikita kung may paliko sa daan na pinanggalingan mo at ganun din ang mga magle-left turn papasok sa old city hall office” the netizen added.
Beautification program
The dismantling of the controversial planter boxes came at an opportune time as the city recently launched a citywide beautification program that involves removal of tarpaulins and other unnecessary eyesores scattered throughout the city.
Aside from this, netizens also compared Tanauan’s high-wall median to Sto. Tomas City’s brand new see-thru fences along Maharlika Highway that come alive at night as they are complete with lighting fixtures.
“Yung sa Sto. Tomas ang ganda, eh, ba’t ang sa Tanauan walang kabuhay-buhay,” a Tanaueño netizen posted on her social media account referring to Tanauan’s now infamous median wall.
Controversial
Made of concrete precast measuring about .5 meters, the controversial planter boxes are horizontally spliced over the old divider island that snaked up from the city boundary of Sto. Tomas City to the corner street leading to the old city hall near Mercado Hospital.
It is estimated to be around one (1) km long from the boundary up to the Mercado hospital.
COA approval
Dismantling of which, however, needed the approval of the Commission on Audit first, a city hall insider, who requested anonymity said.
“COA approved the removal of the spliced planter boxes provided they will be handled with utmost care for future use somewhere in the city,” the source said.
The city hall insider also added that aside from the planter boxes, also included in the P200-M beautification project was repainting of the supporting posts and beams of the city’s walkway shades into pale green.
That move reportedly drowned the original yellow color paint ordered by the late mayor suggestive of the city’s moniker as the “City of Colors.”
The shaded walkways are found on both sides of A. Mabini Avenue and some part of the street circling the public market.
“And while it deadened the original lively yellow color, the whole repainting project along with the green planter boxes cost the city P200 million,” the insider said.
“It was approved and released in haste just before the election ban on government projects took effect in the 2019 mid-term elections.”
Atty. Jhoanna Corona-Villamor, the vice mayor then, assumed as mayor of Tanauan following the assassination of then-incumbent Mayor Antonio Halili (2013-July 2, 2018) during a fateful Monday morning flag-raising ceremony at the new Tanauan City Hall in Barangay Natatas.
Halili was the second incumbent local chief executive of Tanauan to be assassinated after ex-mayor Cesar Platon who was slain in 2001 while campaigning for governor of Batangas.
Halili gained public attention because of his walk of shame campaign against criminality and illegal drugs and bringing progressive change to the city.
Comeback plans
Corona-Villamor entered politics in 2010 when she was elected city councilor and as the first female city vice mayor in 2013. At that time, she became the second female local chief executive next to Sonia Torres-Aquino.
However, instead of running for her first full three-year term at the helm of Tanauan city government, she opted to seek a seat in the Batangas Provincial Board representing the 3rd District of Batangas and got elected as one in 2019, switching places with her father, former mayor and 3rd district board member Alfredo Corona.
Joanna Corona-Villamor is accordingly planning to stage a comeback in Tanauan as vice mayor to former congressman Sonny Collantes who is eyeing for the mayoralty post.
Mayor Sweet
But the amiable daughter of slain mayor Antonio Halili, then running under the United Nationalist Alliance political party, proved too hot to handle for her adversaries in the local elections in the year that followed (2019).
The young Halili, then 46 and fresh from the corporate world, triumphed over her adversaries in the 2019 elections by a mile fueled by the high approval rating of her father aside from amiable and approachable demeanor.
In a post-election interview by mainstream media, Mayor Sweet Halili vowed to continue -- save for the “Walk of Shame” -- the projects her father had started, like putting up a public hospital in Tanauan.
Construction of which is now in full swing following the groundbreaking ceremony in the first week of July 2021.
Modern hospital
The modern public hospital is being constructed inside a 3.6-hectare land in Barangay Sambat near the “Bagsakan at Gulayan” area with a budget of P400 million.
It is projected to be completed within 14 months, or in September 2022.
Mayor Sweet told reporters during the project launch that the facility is a part of his father's promise to the Tanaueños during his term.
“This is a part of Daddy’s (ex-mayor Tony Halili) dream to give Tanaueños a modern public hospital,” Mayor Sweet said in an interview during the groundbreaking ceremony. “Now it’s a reality and soon Tanaueños will benefit from it.”
(IAm/OpBats)