EDITORIAL - Compromising road safety

The road safety devices were installed only a few months ago, so it’s unlikely that they would be so quickly dismantled – and crudely – by those who installed them. Roxas Boulevard in the city of Manila had looked better and safer at night following the installation of reflectorized markers along the center traffic island, plus solar studs on the pavement.

Last Friday, nearly all the reflectorized markers had disappeared. Some had been ripped out completely from the concrete island; others still had the base and screws intact.

The Department of Public Works and Highways said it did not dismantle the safety devices. Neither did the Manila city government, which installed them as part of a street lighting program that began in August, taking advantage of the light vehicular traffic during the COVID quarantines. DPWH officials, noting that the markers were made of steel, theorized that they might have been stolen and sold.

It wouldn’t be the first time that materials used in public infrastructure are stolen. Steel manhole covers had to be changed to concrete or else equipped with special locks because they kept disappearing. Electricity service in several areas had been disrupted because thieves stole wires to get the copper filaments.

Like the theft of auto parts, smartphones and computers, such thievery thrives because there are fences who buy the hot items. There are closed circuit television cameras throughout Roxas Boulevard; city government and police officials should be able to catch those who took the road safety markers. The thieves must not only be caught but also punished. And they must be caught together with the fences, who are the bigger culprits. People have been killed by cell phone muggers because there is a thriving underground market for stolen digital gadgets.

The road safety markers were stolen just days after the Philippines was reported to have been ranked among the safest countries in the world. This could still be true – if the thieves are caught and made to account for their crime.