Of sirens and promises

MANILA, Philippines - President benigno s. Aquino iii’s inaugural address pledge of “no more wang-wang” resonated so loud that it reached all the way to singapore. This writer and fellow star columnist james deakin were in the city-state on coverage when the newly installed president’s promise flooded motoring related websites – which we were monitoring incessantly.

“walang wang-wang, walang counterflow, walang tong,” the president declared, to the delight of many a jaded motorist.

It has been a week since the pronouncement but to this day, media has milked every single wang-wang angle for what it’s worth – what with the president himself being late for one of his own appointments for insisting that the promise starts from home. The philippine star has, on more than one occasion through these very pages, called for the strict implementation of presidential decree no. 96 (pd 96) which was issued way back in 1973. Pd 96 declares as unlawful “the use or attachment of sirens, bells, horns, whistles or similar gadgets that emit exceptionally loud or startling sounds, including dome lights and other signaling or flashing devices on motor vehicles” that impede and confuse traffic. It is a rousing start – at least as far as good publicity is concerned – for a president who has promised positive change since before the election campaign period even began.

To say that the promise has been met with great enthusiasm is an understatement. In fact, upon our very arrival the day after the inauguration, the philippine star got a call from no less than automobile association philippines (aap) vice president johnny angeles, who chairs the aap’s road safety committee. Angeles said that the rampant unauthorized use of wang-wang impedes traffic flow and endangers road users by creating confusion and chaos on the road. As the national auto club, aap represents and protects the interests of motorists, particularly as regards road safety. Soon after, angeles sent in the aap’s official statement on the matter.

“the automobile association philippines (aap) has offered to report to the land transportation office (lto) the license plate numbers, make and model of motor vehicles equipped with but not authorized to have sirens, bells and whistles,” the statement read.

For his part, aap president augusto c. Lagman hailed the newly installed president’s promise to do away with the sirens, dome lights, blinkers and other gadgets that some motorists use to bully their way through traffic. He encouraged aap members, the general motoring public and commuters to note down the license plate numbers and other identifying details of unauthorized wang-wang users and inform aap by calling 414-2288 or 0917-504-2288. Aap, in turn, will report these to the lto and highway patrol group.

Exempted from pd 96 are motor vehicles designated for official use by the armed forces of the philippines, national bureau of investigation, lto, police departments, fire departments and hospital ambulances. The official motor vehicles of the president of the philippines, the vice president, senate president, speaker of the house of representatives and chief justice of the supreme court are also exempted from pd 96.