Illegal in many ways

Government officials have been talking about the new campaign to clamp down on dilapidated jeepneys when they are committing various violations such as using worn out tires, smoke belching, have no brake or signal lights etc., using these as grounds for issuing tickets and ultimately to send out the message that the government is seriously determined to phase out all the old jeepneys on the road. That is probably the slowest, most tedious way of doing things.

Why bother nitpicking on violations when we all know that the jeepney is a vehicular Frankenstein that violates every conceivable safety and efficiency design. The driver “cabin” is a death trap, the distance of the steering wheel from the driver is designed to crush, pin or impale a driver, and the spare wheel that is on the driver side could explode or crush the driver in a serious side collision. The design of the jeepney is such that it is a rolling blind side, not just blind spot. The only reason we don’t have as many casualties as we should is because the traffic in Metro Manila is so slow, you die from road rage before collision.

The jeepney for all its colorful history is a multiple vehicular violation on four wheels. So why not simply declare it ILLEGAL instead of doing the slow dance of death?

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It just occurred to me, why is the government’s Jeepney Modernization program continuing with a “jeepney style” design that requires manufacturing new vehicles just to modernize public transport? There is only one iconic jeepney design. The new design is a farce. There are so many established commercial vehicle manufacturers all over the world, why not pick from an established source instead of re-inventing the wheel? There are so many commuter vans, mini-buses and city buses that are safer, have more available parts and are all MODERN!

On top of all that, established manufacturers already have available tie-ups with major banks or in-house financing programs. Why go through a bidding process that will surely be subject to questions and doubts and will certainly be attacked by critics. Just because President Duterte wants to phase out the old jeepneys does not mean we have to complicate matters and leave the program wide open to possible corruption or vested interests.

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After writing about the excessive prices travellers have to pay for food and necessities in different land – air – sea passenger terminals, we received an immediate response from DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez who informed us that the Department of Trade and Industry will issue a department order to curb or limit prices of basic food items and necessities to protect both travellers and consumers going through or perpetually stuck at passenger terminals all over the Philippines.

While Secretary Lopez is at it, one of our Singaporean readers commented via email that he often travels around the Philippines and regularly has to pay at least P5 to urinate in toilets that are actually owned by the very bus companies that also own the buses he takes. We often assume that it’s the price to pay for clean toilets, but that is wrong on so many levels. Any self respecting local government knows that public utilities such as terminals should also provide public conveniences such as clean toilets or they should not be given a business permit, certainly not a health and sanitation permit! It is a given that toilets should be CLEAN and FREE and not turned into money making business!

Aside from the poor state of neglect by bus company owners, our Singaporean reader mentioned that in Singapore they only pay 10 Singaporean cents or 3.5 Philippine pesos. Perhaps it’s time the DOH, DILG and the DTI get together and make such businesses and premises more compliant and clean just like the campaign to clean up the toilets of gasoline stations!

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Don’t look now but the Duterte administration may have the makings of a runaway TRAIN that could turn popular support for the administration into public contempt, particularly from consumers and commuters.

It seems that we are only now beginning to realize that the tax reform law called TRAIN is full of unexpected or hidden penalties in exchange for lower income taxes. The real problem with the runaway TRAIN is not the law itself but the interpretation and direct impact on consumers. In a country where businessmen shamelessly and habitually pass on any added cost or tax burden to consumers, there is no doubt in my mind that an uncontrolled surge in prices will create a tsunami like whiplash against the government.

God forbid that happens, but if it does, either Congress repeals the law and rewrites an improved version, or there will be lots of angry people turning on the administration. At the moment Congress is not very popular after Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez unashamedly launch his views about NO-EL or No Elections which many people view as dictatorial and self-serving. If government fails to manage the growing negative impact of TRAIN on consumers and commuters, our dear Congressmen can kiss their newfound “Angas” goodbye, because they will all be held guilty for being anti-consumer and anti-commuter.

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After writing about the “no available slots” for on-line appointments with the DFA passport offices, someone shared posts on Facebook where desperate applicants needing to renew passports had to pay an average of P4,000 to P4,500 to “fixers” so they could get a slot or an appointment. So far we have not heard anything in the news on what the Department of Foreign Affairs is doing about the problem. This is not a good sign especially with some people now posting comments about the matter on social media!

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