THEY may be running mates but they have room for disagreement, particularly onâ€â€Âof all thingsâ€â€Âurinals for women.
Asked yesterday at a press conference to comment on the plan of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to put up urinals for women, presidential candidate and Sen. Richard Gordon said the project was feasible and cited an example from Olongapo City of which he was mayor for two separate terms.
But his vice presidential candidate, former MMDA Chair Bayani Fernando, was hardly enthusiastic, and said that finding a suitable design for such a project would be a challenge.
Quipped Gordon: “We are friends, but we also disagree.â€ÂÂ
To think that when the two men filed their certificates of candidacy last month at the Commission on Elections, Fernando said he had found “the person who shares my beliefs,†and that they “complement each other.â€ÂÂ
The MMDA, under its new chair Oscar Inocencio, had earlier announced it was planning to put up women’s urinals on Edsaâ€â€Âan apparent takeoff on the construction of men’s urinals on a number of streets during Fernando’s term as MMDA chair.
Difficult to maintain
But when asked for a reaction yesterday, Fernando said he rejected the idea even during his term because, he insisted, it would be difficult to maintain urinals for women.
Unlike urinals for men, those for women need more cover, Fernando pointed out. And once the cubicles are covered, “people will do anything there,†he said.
He added that he saw urinals for women in Sweden but that when he inspected the cubicles, he found these littered with all sorts of human waste.
“What is needed for women are standard toilets, but these have to be maintained. I wish [the MMDA] luck in finding a suitable design,†Fernando said.
‘Squat toilets’
But Gordon had his own ideas.
Taking the floor immediately after Fernando spoke on the matter, he said “squat toilets†similar to those in Japan would be ideal.
He said his administration had put up toilets for women in Olongapo that were managed by those overseeing the public markets.
Gordon said use of the toilets was for a fee, which also resulted in revenues for the group in charge of the public markets.
Fernando, however, was not impressed. He expressed doubt that Filipino women would pay to use toilets built on the streets.
via Inquirer
