Culpable effrontery
The Land Transportation Office is expected to rule soon on the case of Maria Isabel Lopez, who breached security protocols in place during the recently-held ASEAN Summit in Manila. Specifically, Lopez removed traffic cones that separated an exclusive lane for ASEAN delegates from other lanes open to the public and then proceeded to drive down the exclusive lane. Not only that, she posted a video of her transgression with her voice screaming in glee in the background.
Not only did Lopez willfully violate security protocols, her subsequent action of posting her transgression on the Internet showed none of the remorse she is claiming now but pride in what she had done. Her screaming in glee underscored the fact that it was all fun to her. The violation itself pales in comparison to her effrontery and gall.
Lopez cannot be forgiven for her actions. And her penalty cannot be light. When she appeared at the LTO in response to a summons issued against her, she even had the cockiness to joke that, if ever, her penalty should be subject to a senior citizens discount. If she thinks she was being humorous, she is dead wrong, because the whole nation is watching and waiting for the outcome of this sordid episode.
According to news reports, the likely sanctions Lopez will be made to suffer are either a suspension or a cancellation of her license. A suspension is too light for the gravity of her offense and the severity of her impudence. She was practically thumbing her nose not only at traffic authorities but the entire country that had to suffer many inconveniences just to make our hosting of the ASEAN Summit a success.
People had to endure traffic that is already monstrous as it is without the ASEAN. Schoolchildren had to forego classes to lessen the security and traffic load on the authorities working day and night to secure the international gathering. Businesses had to lose productivity and opportunities as a result of various protocols that were slapped in place.
And then there went Lopez, who just felt herself so special that she deserved some entitlement or concession for who she thought she was. She thought it was perfectly all right for her to remove the traffic barriers in place so she could proceed unimpeded on the exclusive lane meant for ASEAN delegates while the rest of her countrymen had to endure the horrors of staying dutifully in their own designated lanes. She thought it was all fun. And she even wants a penalty discount.
A person possessed with such attitude is a dangerous person and deserves nothing less than a revocation or cancellation of her license. If she thinks she is mighty enough to have done what she did, then she can always hire a driver to move her around. But she must never ever be allowed to drive again. Her case is not a simple matter of some violation. It is a matter of attitude. And it is attitudes that determine sanity, order and safety in the streets.
The LTO must not dilly-dally on the Lopez case because there is a real danger it just might lose interest and forget. The LTO cannot afford to lose this golden opportunity to showcase its own seriousness. If it passes up on this, there will be other instances similar to this that will happen and bring the Lopez case back to haunt it once again. It must use this one to set a much-needed example. It must use this one to do the right thing.
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