Police reported ahead

Last week, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) released a nationwide memorandum to their regional law enforcement groups formalizing a “One Time Big Time” operation against traffic violators. 

In the National Capital Region, that operation was scheduled for last Friday November 22. But even before the operation could be implemented, someone leaked the memo on Facebook accompanied with a warning to people to be careful and be aware of the impending crackdown. In spite of the leaked and irresponsibly shared memo, the LTO still managed to arrest 1,123 traffic violators.

Those arrested were drivers not wearing seat belts, riders not wearing helmets, a couple of tricycles driving on a national road, vehicles not using, or completely without headlights and/or brake lights, or overloading. They even caught two drivers who were driving without a license and using an unregistered vehicle and had no certificate of registration in the vehicle. There were also arrests for distracted driving or texting/ calling on their mobile phone. Just think of that; One thousand one hundred and twenty three arrested in one evening!

As for those who irresponsibly warned potential violators about the “One Time Big Time”; what were you thinking? Did you actually believe you were doing a public service by warning people who normally break or disobey the law by telling them to behave last Friday? I believe that the majority of drivers and vehicle owners who are on Facebook or social media are educated, responsible law abiding citizens and are the people who have been clamoring for discipline and law enforcement on our roads. They are part of the 60 to 70 percent of the population who obey the law and did not need any such warning. By leaking such information to others, the misguided leakers simply delayed the inevitable: a reckless or careless driver who could have been arrested last Friday might have avoided arrest that night but what are the chances that he or she will kill someone this week while overspeeding, overloading leading to brake failure, or ram you while putting on make up or texting someone. Last July such a driver rammed four vehicles on C5 totally destroyed one SUV, sent the driver to the hospital, trashed and disabled a Grab car rendering the driver jobless for at least 3 months, hit a taxi and left the driver no cab to drive for at least a week and finally slamming into my SUV leaving me with a P40,000 repair bill. The driver got away. I just thank GOD that my daughter Hannah was not killed or hurt while sitting in the back seat!

We Filipinos are so concerned for others but there are times such as in leaking information, covering up, or not speaking out against what’s wrong, that we end up doing even more harm in trying to do what we think is “right.” Take for instance WAZE users who inform drivers: “POLICE REPORTED AHEAD.” What’s the point? The police and MMDA traffic enforcers are on the road to monitor traffic flow that we constantly belly ache about. When all hell breaks lose on EDSA we complain that there are no enforcers, but when they show up, some over zealous anti-establishment busy body hits the button: POLICE REPORTED AHEAD!

We should appreciate that the Police are actually around us and ahead of us because that means there is some measure of safety and security and someone can be depended upon if there is an accident on the road. Why put out a warning? Why does WAZE Philippines even carry such a feature in the Philippines? “POLICE REPORTED AHEAD” is a warning to violators not to law abiders. Why institutionalize fear and apprehension about “POLICE” presence. The last thing we want is to adopt the practice and history of drivers in the US where technology has been developed to defy or defeat every attempt of law enforcers to stop reckless driving, over speeding such as radar detectors, scanners, heavy tints, and switches that bypass computers that limit engine power or exhaust systems. If WAZE wants to be part of the solution and not start a problem such as distrust for law enforcers, WAZE should make a way for motorists to contact the police or traffic authorities nearest to them to report a problem or a violator. Let it be the “CONTACT POLICE NOW” button.

For those of you who have been clamoring for the LTO to do more Law Enforcement operations, one thing you could and should do is go to the LTO Website to express your support, request or appreciation that the LTO is doing such activities. The truth is, the LTO is seriously undermanned and needs more moral support as well as corporate support in their many responsibilities. The Police and the AFP regularly receives donations and contributions in terms of vehicles such as motorcycles and SUVs as well as weapons and IT. But the LTO is rarely in the “to give list” of companies. The sad fact is the LTO under Asec Ed Galvante and his team has fixed many of the major problems that were created and left behind during the Aquino administration. The problem is many Filipinos can’t even tell the distinction between who caused the problems from the people who have been sacrificially fixing the problem. “Sacrificially” because even ordinary employees at the LTO work during Saturdays to fix problems and reduce backlogs. “Sacrificially” because those LTO law enforcement officers who have been conducting operations came from their 8 to 5 pm shifts and then went on to do an all-nighter to catch 1,123 violators to make our roads safer. Please think about that when you are tempted to “Share” and Leak a memo intended to protect and keep you safe!

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