Question raised by Forum member Justine Aragones on my Facebook Messenger (October 23, 2019):Sir Joe, is this tarpaulin streamer a nice way of telling the commuting public about the opening of this new bridge in Taytay, Rizal?
My reply to Justine:I must say for the record that I'm extremely hesitant to critique the wording of that tarpaulin streamer of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) about the opening of that bridge. From a communication standpoint, though, and in the hope that the DPWH won't be annoyed by my doing so and instead decide to thoroughly revise that notice, I think that it definitely isn't "a nice way of telling the commuting public" about that good news. It has a number of overtones and undertones that need to be tamped down so that the public won't feel aggrieved rather than being delighted to read the announcement.
First, the statement that the bridge is "NOW OPEN TO TRAFFIC" doesn't sound appropriate--and even has a negative sense--owing to the most unfortunate connotation of the word "traffic" in the Philippine context as "heavy and unruly." I think it's advisable to just knock off the word "traffic" from that phrase so it will read as follows: "NOW OPEN."
Second, the modifier "GOING TO TAYTAY" makes it sound as if that bridge is a moving entity rather than a fixed and stationary infrastructure or facility. It would be much better semantically and tonally to knock off the word "GOING" and just say "TO TAYTAY."
Third, which I think is the most touchy aspect of that announcement, is the name of the bridge itself: "BARKADAHAN BRIDGE." I do realize that most likely, it was simply informal folk tradition that made Taytay residents give that name to the bridge, but the word 'BARKADAHAN" has the inappropriate imagery of "gangland" with the rowdy, free-for-all sense of that word--an imagery that to me just seems to make passing through that bridge not a pleasant and not very welcome experience.
I therefore would urge Taytay residents and the DPWH to jointly consider renaming that bridge for posterity with a more pleasant and more appropriate name, maybe after a highly respected Taytay leader or town official in its history. (Perhaps the Taytay local government can hold a contest of sorts among its residents to come up with the most worthy name.)
Summing up all of the above considerations, that notice to the public can perhaps be fine-tuned this way: "(NAME OF MOST WORTHY TAYTAY LEADER) BRIDGE IN TAYTAY, FORMERLY THE BARKADAHAN BRIDGE II, NOW OPEN TO MOTOR VEHICLES."
I hope this helps.
