Yesterday, I joined my serious journalist friend Ja on a trip to Quezon City where she interviewed residents who face the threat of demolition by the National Housing Authority. I acted as her official photographer (hehehe) as she scribbled furiously in her large notebook. What I learned there was mind boggling. The residents are being forced to move to Montalban where new homes await them. It shouldn’t be such a bad deal except that:
a. Montalban is too far away from the residents’ workplaces and schools.
b. The houses in Montalban are all made of cheap materials. One strong push can send the walls a-falling.
c. Montalban is notorious for crime.
d. Montalban is near a river with a flimsy dam (that was apparently destroyed recently).
AND, AND!
e. Montalban is located right above the Marikina fault line which, according to the DOST, will break open in five to ten years.
Hello! No wonder the locals call it Mentalban. Who wouldn’t go crazy living there?
