While our roads are often drilled with holes as part of maintenance projects, it can be frustrating when they don’t get repaired as quickly as possible.
So when Glenn Cui Infante, a plantito from Quezon City, got frustrated over tiny holes drilled on a road for a construction project at West Los Angeles Street that had been put on hold, he decided to grow plants in the holes to give the road an eco-friendly makeover.
Image credit: Glenn Cui Infante
On 19th January, Infante shared photos of himself putting plants in each hole in the road on Facebook. The photos quickly went viral, as netizens seemingly were able to relate to his frustration.
“Flex ko lang garden ko. Sana all eco friendly yung kalsada,” (I’ll just flex my garden. I hope all roads can become eco-friendly.) Infante posted.
Image credit: Nicos Beltran
Netizen Nicos Beltran even said in the comments that he hoped the government would still finish construction projects that are not yet done if they would reduce spending on infrastructure.
“This is one of the saddest state[s] of our roads. Kung mag reduce spending sa infra, sana tapusin ‘yong hindi tinapos. Mukhang maayos pa naman ‘yung kalsada tapos binutas[,] lol.”
(This is one of the saddest state[s] of our roads. If [the authorities] could reduce spending on infrastructure, I hope they can finish projects that are not yet done. The road looks okay but they drilled it, lol.)
Grass growing in the holes in the road
Image credit: Glenn Cui Infante
Turns out, Infante had first noticed grass growing inside the holes, which was a sign that the road project had been delayed. So he decided to put plants inside them as if to maintain the growing flora.
Image credit: Glenn Cui Infante
After his post went viral, Infante said in an interview with GMA News that he posted photos of himself placing plants in the holes for fun.
“Actually, katuwaan lang yung post na yon. Kasi napansin ko ilang months di ginagawa yung kalsada kasi butas-butas. So napansin ko after ilang months, tinubuan na siya ng halaman.”
(Actually, that post was just for fun. I’d noticed that the road was not being repaired for a few months already, because [the road] is dotted with holes. Then after a few months, I noticed that plants had also grown [inside the holes.])
Image credit: Glenn Cui Infante
Construction at West Los Angeles Street had been delayed because of the pandemic, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways of Quezon City. But after Infante’s post, construction soon resumed, seemingly because the post went viral.
But according to DPWH Quezon City, they had actually already scheduled the continuation of construction at the said street, and the resumption wasn’t because of Infante’s post.
Infante, however, had his doubts. “Nung nag-viral yung post ko after two days, ginawa na? Bakit ganun? P’wede naman po pala yung ganun,” he said in an interview with GMA News.
(When my post went viral, after two days, the road was fixed. Why is it like that? It’s actually possible to [prioritize these projects.])
While it may indeed help our communities to send our concerns about road construction projects to authorities, we hope more of these projects can be completed on time.
After all, upgraded roads help us drive more smoothly to our destinations, and also help maintain the overall order in our communities.
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Cover image adapted from: Glenn Cui Infante, Glenn Cui Infante
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