"Sa Maynila, walang kalyeng walang kable!"

Manila is the Philippines' capital city. It may not be the physical gateway of the Philippines (since airports are located in Pasay and Subic) but foreign tourists and balik-bayans prefer to see the city as number one place to visit. Manila is a diverse city of arts, culture, entertainment and politics so many people are expecting awesome experience of lights and sounds here.

Unfortunately, Manila after World War 2 became too unorganized, and the evidence, those electrical and phone lines bustling in the sidewalks of the City. It's a normal scene for us and we get used to it, but seriously, it's a NO-NO in many situations.

1. OCTOPUS WIRING CAUSES UNEXPECTED FIRE RAGE - No need to explain and elaborate.

2. SELFIES WITH BLACK LINES?! NO WAY! - We have so many beautiful buildings and structures within Manila where you want to take a selfie in it. But S**T! Cables are more visible than the view.

3. NO LONGER A SIGN OF DEVELOPMENT - It was acceptable then that a city's developing when there are more electrical and phone lines around. But now, I don't think it's still a good sign of progress. Urbanized and economically-progresive capital cities have underground cabling system to utilize sidewalks for more pedestrian. Less pillars, more comfort for the walking public. But here, this posts occupy half or, worst, the entire sidewalk. I think 80 percent of Manila's sidewalks are really narrow. No wonder we have some incidents of hit-and-run and road accidents involving pedestrians.

Despite the political circus inside the City Hall, Manila is a city that cannot be hinder from economic development. As we progress, we should consider fixing our infrastructure to pace with our counterparts worldwide. Manila and concerned companies should do something about this. Manila is a beautiful city, but these electrical wires make the city uglier and dirtier.

P.S. My family pays our electrical bills on time (and I believe other families too) so I think we deserve to be heard. It's for our safety and our City's future too, after all.

PHOTO CREDITED TO ARCH. PAULO ALCAZAREN'S FACEBOOK ACCOUNT