Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Properly Communicated Misinformation


I have been stuck here for almost three hours already, and it just turned 10 am. My mom has not arrived yet. She was supposed to land 2 hours ago. She was told, as I was told, that they are experiencing some problems with the air traffic.

(Well, I have had some land traffic on my way here!)

Like most people, or Filipinos for that matter, I don’t think the problem really is with the air traffic. It is of course air traffic management with our not-so-equipped air traffic control tower. But I really don’t want to fret about the kind of technology they use, or the lack of it. Rather, I would like to focus on the “I and C” in ICT.

Take for example the traffic one has to go through from Katipunan to NAIA3. From there to here it practically takes much more time (and effort) compared to the actual flight from Tuguegarao to here. The sign says, “right lane must turn right” but the car in front simply won’t budge. Another shouts in big bold letters, “YIELD” but cars simply won’t give turns and instead everyone swerves all over the highway. What good is a high-tech traffic light accessorized with HD CCTVs, assuming we have one, when people still go while on a red.

See, either things are communicated without much information or that information is improperly communicated.

It is okay to swerve, the signage to the contrary, because no one really gets a ticket for that. It is okay to create your own third lane on a 2-lane highway because we think it has always been like that. We simply know what to do or not to do, but we could care less because no one really enforces or implements such. Hence, it results to a misinformation properly communicated: that otherwise is okay.

Going back to the air traffic, so is it really the air traffic? So is it really about the technology they use? Well, perhaps, most likely! But the radar, the microphone, the switches, etc., they are just mere media for communication to go through. Proper information and better communication is the key.

Perhaps they could start with hiring a few more hands up that tower.

By Vann dela Cruz Entry #3

1 comment:

Maricris L. Real said...

"Due to air traffic..":)) Sends pictures in my head of airplanes nose to tail with one another to land. They could definitely explain the situation better to passengers and relatives awaiting passengers.