Before and After: NLEX-C5 Interchange

Here's another stunning before-and-after find in Google Earth. This is located somewhere in northern Metro Manila, at the under construction interchange of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and C5 road.

Check it out in Google Maps. The map layer overlay still shows where the old roads used to be.

It's practically a whole village wiped out. The history of satellite imagery shows that a lot of the houses here have been existing since at least 2001. This must be one of those things I hear on the news about people causing a riot over their homes being demolished. Hard to blame them.

Dumaguete in 2005 and 2010

Dumaguete City's satellite imagery has finally been given an update in Google Maps and Earth, jumping from February 2005 to June 2010. Here's a collection of the more significant changes I noticed, just as I did for Cebu a few months ago.

Dumaguete Business Park

The huge chunk of barren land practically adjacent to downtown and formerly owned by Julio Sy, now transformed into Robinsons Place Dumaguete and the Teletech call center office-- the beginnings of Dumaguete Business Park, hopefully launching the city into a glorious future.

Port

There's a land reclamation project going on at the port area, which I actually haven't been much aware of, but it has added a large bit of area to the seaport. Also, there's a new passenger terminal.

Convention Center and Oval

Previously a dusty old track oval known as the Perdices Coliseum. Now features a nice rubberized track with the Negros Oriental Hotel and Convention Center surrounding it.

Airport

The airport runway has been widened by around 10 meters and equipped with lights for night landings. There also seems to be little hangar for small aircraft now.

Diversion Road

The diversion road (or circumferencial road) is a project that's been talked about forever. Supposed to connect Sibulan to Bacong without passing through the congestion of Dumaguete, it finally seems to have gotten off the ground a little bit. A roughly 900 meter stretch of road has been cleared so far, with a width of 20 meters.

Noynoy in the Hot Seat

There's some kind of poetic symmetry to be pointed out here, with President Noynoy Aquino lamenting the people that have nothing better to do that criticize the government blindly:

Aquino appeals for unity

DAVAO DEL NORTE, Philippines – President Aquino called for unity here on Thursday, saying it was important to the country’s development. [...]

But the President lamented that instead of helping the government in solving the country’s problems, some quarters were making an issue about just anything.

"May mga tao lang po talaga na ayaw yata ng kaunlaran at lahat ng ginagawa natin ay pinupuna (There are people who do not seem to want progress, they criticize our every move)," he said.

To be fair, he's absolutely right. As I've said time and time again, the culture of cynicism in this country too often goes far beyond mere patriotic opposition-- it's damaging to the country's long term growth.

Problem is that Aquino's campaign for president was centered around positioning himself as the epitome of the type of person he is now criticizing. Despite the attempts to portray himself as the new Obama, he didn't reach the top by being a uniter. He did it by driving a wedge into the country's divisions, and claiming the biggest piece as his own.

And now, to expect anything different from his own critics? Well. Good luck with that.