Time to Buckle Down and Work
The elections are over. The canvassing has been painfully slow and most of the winners have been proclaimed while the candidates who lost are claiming fraud, as usual.
To the losers, I say better luck next time. If you were really cheated, try your luck again or file a complaint with the election tribunal. If you were the one cheating and you still didn’t win, God is sending you a signal: Stop whining!
To the winners, I say congratulations whether or not you deserve it. Since you’ve been declared as the winner, we have no choice. You have to take your seat, buckle down and get to work. Your constituents and the Republic deserve no less.
To the senators and congressmen: I dare you to enact a law that makes it unlawful to put up billboards and signs that say “This road/lighting/drainage/water improvement project was undertaken through the efforts of…” because after all, it is NOT the job of a congressman or senator to undertake such a project. You guys are supposed to craft, enact and implement laws that safeguard the well-being, convenience and safety of the public with the construction of worthwhile infrastructure projects. Since it is the job of the governors, mayors and city councils to see that these projects are realized, they shouldn’t put their names on a billboard to flaunt their involvement. After all, they were just doing their jobs. As proposed, no money will be spent on those useless billboards and signs and more money can be actually used for the project. Or line somebody’s pockets.
To the new Congress: Can you decide with finality about the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA)? Congressman Bingbong Crisologo (1st District of QC) should act as a catalyst after he has personally experienced the arrogance of some of its officers. The MMDA has done nothing to develop Metro Manila and thus the “Authority” should be removed from them. As motorists and motorcyclists, our vested interest is to improve the traffic within the Metro. Records show that traffic has worsened over the years even with the implementation of the various vehicle reduction schemes, rerouting, fencing and other activities that make driving in the city downright dangerous. Dissolving the MMDA will free a significant budget to finance a singular traffic super body that can effectively plan, supervise and enforce new traffic laws. It can be patterned after the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), State Trooper and Local Traffic Police units of the
To the Mayors: Can you ask your city planning engineers to do their jobs? Apparently, no planning was obviously done when a smooth newly-paved road will suddenly be sliced open (again) to lay down pipes for a water or sewage improvement project and the diggings will be left either unattended or minimally covered afterwards. Likewise, allowing trucking companies and bus firms to have a depot in a road not designed for large trucks and buses is another sign of poor planning. Perhaps Mr. Mayor can just fire his city planning engineers and use their salaries to finance other worthwhile projects like street lighting and maintenance of stop lights, instead.
To the City Councilors: Can you do some research or coordinate with your counterparts in other cities before you craft city ordinances that pertain to traffic? Several cities have passed motorcycle-related ordinances that do not jive with each other. Some cities allow the use of full-face helmets while other cities do not because they reasoned these helmets are used by criminals for nefarious activities. Thus, bikers have to bring two helmets just to satisfy the ordinances of cities that they commute in. If the goal of the well-meaning city councils is to minimize criminal activities, the first ordinance they should pass is to make it illegal for a motor vehicle to have heavy tinting on the front windshield and the front windows. After all, criminal elements use motorcars, too, especially heavily tinted ones.
To the PNP: Please rename your Traffic Management Group (TMG) because it has become oxymoronic. The TMG goes after car thieves and looks for irregularities in vehicle plates and identifications but it is very seldom that they leave their police cars to help untangle, ergo “manage” the traffic. Perhaps, a different name will help them go after the car thieves more effectively. After all, they already know who the thieves are. It’s just a matter of political will that prevents them from pursuing the criminals.
And to summarize everything, it is the same lack of political will that prevents our country’s progress. The lack of political will prevents authorities from strictly implementing traffic laws to the letter. The lack of political will prevents enforcers from doing their jobs effectively. The lack of political will is what enjoins many drivers and motorcycle riders to become habitual law breakers and they are showing it now by wantonly ignoring traffic signs, traffic lights and even traffic enforcers. That same lack of political will is what is making our country lag behind our other ASEAN neighbors.
To our newly elected officials: Please eradicate the lack of political will and implement worthwhile programs and projects to move our country forward.
To my fellow citizens: It’s time to make your voices heard. Write your congressmen and your elected officials. Tell them that we have to move and show them you mean it by following laws yourself. Stop bickering because we really have to move now or we shall be left far, far behind!
In case you haven’t checked it out, our upgraded website, philstar.com, now has an interactive component as well. Backseat Driver reactions, questions and comments are just as welcome – though they will be up for all to see. Feel free to log on, just the same. In the meantime, here are a few of your text in questions and reactions from last week.
Ano po ang meaning ng OEM-type spark plug? – 09193866888 (Basically, OE stands for Original Equipment, which means that spark plugs of this type have passed quality control standards of the basic kind. There are several after market products – spark plugs included – that are of the high performance kind.)
To Mr. Deakin: That must’ve been one heckuva ride! By far, tandem skydiving was the best experience for me but riding with a rally driver like Rifat would’ve been great too! – 09274631257 (Believe us, it was!)
To PNP & MMDA: Please do something about the illegal jeepney terminal and sand trucks along Camachile,
Speak out, be heard and keep those text messages coming in. To say your piece and become a “Backseat Driver”, text PHILSTAR<space>FB<space>MOTORING<space>YOUR MESSAGE and send to 2840 if you’re a Globe or Touch Mobile subscriber or 334 if you’re a Smart or Talk ’n Text subscriber or 2840 if you’re a Sun Cellular subscriber. Please keep your messages down to a manageable 160 characters. You may send a series of comments using the same parameters.)
- Latest
- Trending
