Building the 24-hour city

The phenomenal growth of outsourcing creates stresses and demand on the City that need to be addressed for growth to continue. It is not merely a government issue: Outsourcing companies also need to take a role by hiring local, instead of mandating daily hundred kilometer trips for their employees.

This article was originally published in the Manila Bulletin on 06 June 2005. Authored by Alex Timbol, Maccess Corporation.

Consumers' Post
Ethel Timbol

Building the 24-Hour City

President GMA's directive to study the feasibility of operating the MRT and LRT around the clock is a positive step to boost our competitive position in global outsourcing.


Let?s hope the MRT and LRT figure this out while "studying" the matter:

Rails and trains depreciate and incur interest expenses 24 hours a day, hence every hour that the system is shut down means zero revenues to offset continuing fixed costs.

For the last five years, we've been marketing the Philippines as a round the clock business outsourcing center, yet it's taken this long to figure out this basic logistical requirement:

Providing safe, efficient, end-to-end transportation to the thousands of people working around the clock.

The local outsourcing industry is growing in excess of one hundred percent per year, so the number of people working the late shift doubles every year.

Moving these people around safely and efficiently in the early hours will be a major challenge for both Metro Manila's chief executives and the outsourcing centers.

Beyond the MRT and LRT, there is also a need to wholistically address late night commuters? end-to-end travel needs. We need to provide these workers with safe, reliable paths from home to office and vice-versa.

We need to work with call center operators to tune their hiring practices so that workers, particularly nightshifters, have shorter travel distances.

Some call center operators, with facilities in Alabang, Makati, Ortigas and Libis, require workers to shift locations at a day's notice!

That's a 100-kilometer distance!

Here's a tip for outsourcers: Hire local in the areas you need people. It will put less strain on the city, and more importantly, on your workers. They will be more productive, and greatly reduce the likelihood of being robbed, raped, or killed on the way to work. No amount of PR Spin is going to help you if your policies put workers in harm?s way.

To build the 24-hour city we need to encourage the growth of support industries: 24?hour shops and eateries, safe rest areas or "hang-outs," and round the clock access to information & services.

That's easy to say, but it will take a thorough review of local government policies, since many cities have archaic laws that discourage round the clock operations.

Most of these services will, and should, be provided by the private sector, creating opportunities for entrepreneurs and workers, but the key enablers, safety, security, and appropriate policy direction, are still the responsibility of government.

Police and other emergency services need to be alert and accessible around the clock.



The Text Police and Text Fire campaigns are a step in the right direction. So are online government services, which by definition, are available 24/7 from any nearby Internet Cafe.

Key transport terminals need to be identified and provided with round the clock security and traffic control. Even the so-called "last mile" to workers? homes should likewise be secured by local barangay police.

In November last year, photojournalist Mike Llorin was killed in a midnight drive-by shooting at a Quezon City gas station by a Green Pajero and Owner Jeep without license plates.

Four years ago, Claudine Feliciano was abducted, raped, and murdered an hour before midnight by a gang in a van also without license plates.

While we are aware of the MMDA's campaign to apprehend plateless vehicles some months ago, this daytime campaign seems to have fizzled.

Shouldn't this campaign be restarted, particularly at night?

Any vehicle without license plates (or questionable plates, e.g. a newer "V," "W," or "X" plate on an old vehicle), should immediately be suspect, particularly in this day and age of terror alerts.

Kahit anak ng General or Government Official, hindi exempted!

Many of these "plate-less" vehicles are used for crimes against persons, so police should verify that passengers, particularly women and children, are willing riders and not kidnap victims.

Commercial carpark should not allow entry to vehicles without proper plates. The plateless van that abducted Claudine parked in an Alabang mall?s carpark while they selected a victim. "No Plates, No Park" should be the rule!

Speaking of malls, we've noticed that some have a practice of cordoning off sidewalks when they are closed for the day, forcing commuters to walk on the road or highway at night. This is even worse than sidewalk vendors!

Calling MMDA: The sidewalk campaign should also go after mall operators who use sidewalks as private buffer zones. Ang sidewalk para sa tao! (Sidewalks are for people).

In a modern city like Hong Kong, you'll notice the profusion of pedestrian overpasses and walkways. As much as possible, these urban centers are designed to keep pedestrians on a level separate from vehicular traffic.

In Hong Kong, private enterprises are encouraged to build or improve pedestrian overpasses and provide in-building transport terminals.

They are given tax incentives, while they benefit from the increased pedestrian traffic. In exchange, they are required by law to operate the walkways and terminals 24 hours a day.

Sana ganyan din dito, since we?ve seen many privately built over- and under-passes that close as early as 8pm (and open as late as 10 am: Perhaps to save 'wear and tear" on the floor during rush hours.)

Becoming a 24-hour city is a deliberate process. It goes beyond the rhetoric promoting the Philippines as a global outsourcing destination and involves substantial coordinated planning involving the national government, the local government, and the private sector.

With the outsourcing industry growing at triple digits, bottlenecks and threats to the security of night shift workers are surfacing. Hopefully, those involved will be able to recognize, identify, and resolve these in time.

Unless we deliberately plan the 24-hour city NOW, the late night economy will soon choke and we will miss another opportunity for economic growth. -ASTimbol

(Alex S. Timbol is president of Maccess Corp., a management consulting company. The late Mr. Llorin and Ms. Feliciano were personal friends.)