Pinoy netizens decry MMDA's 'smoking urinals'

If Facebook had a "Dislike" button, it would've been useful right about now. Filipino social media users on Wednesday thumbed down the proposal of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to use the widely available male urinals as smoking areas, following full-swing implementation of its "100% Smoke-Free Metro Manila" campaign, according to an informal survey conducted by GMA News. MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino, however, stressed the plan is not final yet. "We're still studying the plan regarding urinals, given the objection of some parties," he said. Early on, however, majority of netizens were unanimous about the unusual idea: "We don't follow."

But this is not the first time the MMDA has proposed an eyebrow-raising idea as solutions to the national capital's persisting problems. Just recently, it moved to ban smoking scenes in films participating in the next Metro Manila Film Festival, of which the MMDA is the main organizer, also as a response to its accelerated drive against smoking in Metro Manila cities. When he was still MMDA chief, erstwhile Marikina Mayor Bayani Fernando led the MMDA's crusade against sidewalk vendors, with some of its clearing operations often ending in violence. Fernando likewise initiated the installation of "pink fences" along EDSA to prevent pedestrians from crossing the major thoroughfare anytime and anywhere they want. MMDA is also credited for the widely known shocking street sign which screams: "Walang Tawiran Nakamamatay." — TJD, GMA News