Overpriced rollerballs and a PR campaign

On my last drive along Marcos Highway going to Baguio City a month ago, I could not help but notice a series of colorful rollers on parts of the highway.

- CITO BELTRAN

Instead of the standard long metal guard rails that help prevent vehicles from jumping off the road, I saw those plastic or rubberized roller balls, one on top of another the size of a volleyball.

Judging from what I saw, I assumed that the design would make a car roll along to the side instead of slamming into those hard metal or concrete barriers. The design was modern, colorful and seemed to make perfect sense.

I assumed that they were test models because they were placed few and far between. Some were on a curve while a couple were on a straight part along Marcos Highway. Last weekend, I managed to pay a courtesy visit to Baguio City Mayor Benjie Magalong, and I found out that those rollerball barriers were demo units.

Some outfit or group had offered to put them up for demonstration and as test models. But as it turns out, they were being "set-up" or on demonstration as "proof of concept" in order to get endorsement from the regional DPWH and get funding from congressmen in the region. If the demonstration gets the green light and funding, they could eventually be installed in every region and province in the Philippines.

It seemed like a progressive plan until...somebody misplaced a piece of paper that contained the DUPA or Detailed Unit Price Analysis for every piece of two-ball rollers amounting to P121,330 per meter. According to Mayor Magalong, someone researched the same products from China and the unit cost was $225 or landed cost in Manila at P20K.