‘St. Christopher’s’ Joy Ride

I can only imagine Senator Christopher “Bong” Go’s annoyance when his name got dragged into the highly suspicious turn of events after the LTFRB decided to limit the number of riders for Angkas, the motorcycle taxi business model. In an earlier column, I was one of those who suspected and suggested that some powerful forces might have a strategy of making angkas on Angkas or getting a free ride in terms of having to develop their own system, enlist and train riders by simply pirating 17,000 riders that the LTFRB wants Angkas to cut loose or drop from their roster. What I did not expect was that Senator Christopher “Bong” Go would be accused or suspected in social media as having a vested interest in “Joy Ride” one of the companies applying to enter the market that Angkas developed and professionalized.

After hearing about Bong Go’s predicament, the first thought that came to mind is that perhaps GOD is using “St. Christopher” the patron saint of travelers a.k.a Bong Go so he can show some real “Malasakit” to the 17,000 riders who will go jobless resulting from the amateur work of  perpetually recycled political appointees at the LTFRB. Perhaps, it was GOD’s plan all along to allow this insinuation and accusation to piss off “St. Christopher “Bong” Go to the point when he and his tatay Digong will finally realize that the people they have placed and/or allowed to stay in that agency should all be investigated and if need be removed. To be blunt about it, even officials within the Duterte administration have expressed wonder and amazement why all the infighting and inefficiencies at the LTFRB have been treated mildly or with just a slap on wrist. Hopefully, the “Senator” in Bong Go will rise with righteous indignation and do a complete investigation of the agency beginning with all the issues raised by Atty Aileen Lizada, complaints raised by TMVS applicants, and now the highly suspicious moves of the LTFRB Technical Working Group on motorcycle taxis. I also suggest that “St. Christopher” “Bong” Go also coordinate with the Civil Service Commission and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea so an audit can be conducted on the residency and competence of officials particularly political appointees in LTFRB who are able to have themselves recycled more often than waste products. Unlike compost that is good for plants, recycled political appointees playing “Experts” is not good for the country and the economy!

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Speaking of unfavorable publicity, this recent episode might be a heads up for Senator Bong Go and others who think publicity is essential in their careers and goals. Sometimes, too much coverage and exposure simply attracts critics and haters or gives rise to suspicion about why you are getting an unusual amount of publicity. This usually leads to turning off some supporters and many neutral observers. The amount of photo ops of Bong Go that get published is reminiscent of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo whose photos consistently showed up in major newspapers every other day as she rose higher and higher in public office. Back then and now, many observers assume that it is part of the strategic positioning and establishing recall in line with a person’s political or career aspirations. Senator Bong Go’s continuing stream of photos and PR mention tells us that he has someone professionally orchestrating the placements. But it is also what gives substance to the claims or suspicions of pundits that Bong Go has plans to run as Vice President in 2022 perhaps in tandem with Speaker Alan “Peace be with you” Cayetano. Yes it is good to be in the radar, but it is even better to be mentioned in the context of substantial achievements, real work and not just repetitive exposure doing the same thing over and over.

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I was originally planning to write an article about the lack of signs in most government offices and facilities, highways and especially ports, and title it: “I SAW THE SIGN – NOT.” This lack of signs was actually one of the few governance fails we noticed as we continued on our road trip in the Visayas while Typhoon Ursula chased our tail.

It seems that officials at the DPWH, DOT and DPWH over emphasize their attention on hard structures and facilities but almost always forget to design, produce and strategically place signs that are compliant with international standards.This is the twin evil of highway engineers who also give no value to the importance of painted lane dividers. Even as we left Metro Manila this became very apparent right after Magallanes village on South Super highway / SLEX where several big excavations have been ongoing near the curbside south bound just before the Skyway entry. Barriers were placed right in front or on top of the excavations but not several meters before so motorists could properly avoid the series of big holes. There was no one looking after the construction area and the excavations were creating a bottleneck. When we traveled from Caticlan to Kalibo to Roxas City, we encountered many unfinished road expansion projects and excavation that were dangerously left abandoned during the Christmas break. Again there were no signs. Every time we approached a port, it was anybody’s guess on what lane you are suppose to be because there are no signs ahead of the traffic congestion. Even the DOT does not seem to place value on directional signs especially for foreign and domestic tourists who might not be familiar with a destination. At the rate we’re going we might have a better chance getting a sign from GOD than from certain Cabinet members.

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