Should Manila remain the capital of the Philippines?

[webfact]

Should Manila remain the capital of the Philippines?
By Coconuts Manila



Should Manila remain the capital of the Philippines?

MANILA: -- Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has filed a bill to create a commission that will study whether Manila and the National Capital Region should be retained as the seat of government.

Trillanes said "lack of urban planning as manifested by antiquated drainage systems, traffic gridlocks, hazardous air quality, and compounded by the proliferation of illegal settlers make Metro Manila a place with only little space for development."

Full story: http://manila.coconuts.co/2013/07/12/should-manila-remain-capital-philippines


-- Coconuts Manila 2013-07-12

[Zolt]

He's got a point. The Philippines need a fresh start.

[davejones]

It doesn't matter where the capital city is. So what if it can't develop any further? There are plenty of other places in Philippines. I don't know why people get fixated about capital cities. Manila will still have the same problems whether it's the capital or not. You won't magically change anything by declaring somewhere else as the capital. People will still want to live and do business in Manila. People haven't moved out of NYC just because Washington is the capital. Same with many big cities around the world.

[bigbamboo]

I always thought it was appropriate that one of Asia's most corrupt country's capital should be a city famous for brown envelopes.

[lemoncake]

Angeles City would be great capital. Hardly any traffic and lots of attractions

[edwinchester]

Moving the capital city will be a fantastic opportunity for rake offs. Won't be long before we hear Mr T suggesting similar is my guess.

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[Jasun]

This stinks a bit like when Mahatir moved the duty free status from Penang to Langkawi, where his family happened to have significant property holdings.

[bangarang]

LoL... Why not just fix the problems instead of trying to move the government somewhere else? Also, I would be nice to be able to go to your hotel in manila without needing to have the taxi checked for bombs and walking through a metal detector when you enter your hotel.

[a99az]

No let's move it to London. Then I would not need a visa to visit.

[lemoncake]

No let's move it to London. Then I would not need a visa to visit.

You need visa to visit? That's at first

[bri1guy]

No let's move it to London. Then I would not need a visa to visit.

You need visa to visit? That's at first

NO Visa is needed almost everyone gets 21DAYS free on arrival.. I go to Boracay Island like how Phuket was 10 yrs ago.

[bangon04]

Moving the capital city will be a fantastic opportunity for rake offs. Won't be long before we hear Mr T suggesting similar is my guess.

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It worked in Burma...and Brazil as I recall...

Edited July 12, 2013 by bangon04

[lemoncake]

Moving the capital city will be a fantastic opportunity for rake offs. Won't be long before we hear Mr T suggesting similar is my guess.

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He already did, i believe a few years ago and from memory to Udon or somewhere in Isaan where most of the MP's owned land

[attento]

How is moving the Capital from Manila to a different site going to help the inadequate drainage, bad roads and poor living conditions of so many Manila citizens ?

Why don't politicians stop thinking about themselves and start raising the basic standard of living by sorting out their country's problems ?

Maybe better to move the parliament building and other government offices INTO one of the slum areas, and then see how long it takes before something is done !

Surely, this politician has no shame in that he, a legislator, is admitting that part of his country is so poorly governed and administered that it is unfit for civilised human habitation !

[BuriramRes]

Burley Griffin did that in Australia. Stopped two cities arguing!

[Greer]

Bear in mind that Manila (I happen to be there right now as I type) has truly dreadful infrastructure and nowhere to build to fix it - you need "swing space" to move people or services into while you fix or rebuild the broken bits, and that just doesn't exist in Manila.

A properly planned and serviced government precinct somewhere else would actually improve things by moving all the public servants out of the way for a start.

Once traffic loads are reduced, it would give them breathing space that may help allow them to fix Manila - so its not a dreadful idea at all - as long as the infrastructure and planning is done right.

Look at the Fort area - its very pleasant with wide roads and it all seems just like any well planned modern city space - but just down the road, and its a whole different story.

[Cats4ever]

Angeles City would be great capital. Hardly any traffic and lots of attractions

And they would have the invaluable advice of the older expats who are experts in everything.

[marell]

As always, a commission is an excellent idea. Wonder if The Honorable Senator Trillanes (the fourth) has any ideas/suggestions as to the compostion, mandate and budgeting of this commission.

Edited July 13, 2013 by marell

[gaucho]

the yanks got it right ..the biggest city in any state is not always the capital ....that way a lot of wealth is spread around ...in sydney govt departments started shifting westwards years back ...

[slipperylobster]

It would be very unlikely that this would happen. The layers of politics go very deep in the Philippines. With so many hands in the pot, moving the pot would seem impossible. Business relationships, banks, real estate, municipal contracting...whew. It might be better for them to decentralize their government a bit more, realizing this would open the door for even more graft and corruption.

[adjustedpete]

He's got a point. The Philippines need a fresh start.

lol.. and they will get it...if the water rises only 1mtr due to global warming. Manilla problem will be solved.

[Loptr]

Burn it down and start over, beginning with a real city planner to lay out the architecture with a real road system.

[jaideeguy]

They already have a summer capitol......Baguio and over the last decade it has become as congested and poluted as Manila......just a bit cooler. Any place they choose will get trashed.

[irwinfc]

at least this senator isn't spending his time planning mutinies. or is he? maybe the "new capital" he envisions is one that's strategically easy to wipe out any incumbent government.

[Honkytowner]

It might come as a shock to some, but Manila is NOT the capital of the Philippines. Quezon City is.