Multimedia

In my 21 years in politics, I have met a lot of public servants who have dedicated their lives to the service of our people. I admired quite a number of politicians for their abilities, their passion, and their vision for the country. But there are three giants of Philippine politics who stand out even when compared to the best and the brightest — Joker Arroyo, Miriam Santiago, and, the subject of this column today, Nene Pimentel.

Our economic managers and monetary authorities are now in a better position to calibrate the benchmark borrowing and lending rates in support of household spending and investments, with inflation rate falling below 1 percent for the first time in 40 months.

Metro Manila, or the National Capital Region (NCR), is bursting at the seams, and some studies rank it as one of the most congested urban centers in the world.

While the government and the private sector are busy undertaking major infrastructure projects in the metropolis, they will not be enough to resolve the traffic congestion in the 619-square-kilometer (sq km)urban sprawl, whose daytime population swells to over 21 million.