Nightmares

Nightmare #1 – PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde must be having nightmares. On the eve of his retirement, he is accused of being the “protector” of the ninja-cops. Before he became the PNP Chief he was actually hybernating in Pampanga. In 2013, he was relieved from his duties as Pampanga police chief due to command of responsibility for allegedly not taking action on 13 Pampanga cops who recycled 160 kilograms of shabu (worth almost P650 million). The ultimate question is why didn’t Albayalde as the PNP Chief revisit the case when he had the power to do so as the Chief? Knowing the actions of the 13 ninjas in the past, why didn’t he pursue the case to investigate them? And why is he comfortable with them still around in the PNP under his command? So, is he really their “protector”? Abangan!

Nightmare #2 – After the dengvaxia scare, the public has avoided vaccinations. Thus, the outbreak of measles a few months ago and now the latest scare – poliovirus which was already eradicated in the year 2000. A three-year old child from Lanao Del Sur was confirmed to have the virus. The last case of polio type 2 in the country was in 1993. The decline of the use of vaccines over the years has triggered more concerns. If parents continue to avoid vaccinations, the children will suffer different health problems. The Department of Health has not been succesful in calming the public. DOH should properly explain the benefits and risks of vaccinations in order to help the public gain a better understanding of them. It must also give more comprehensive analysis (in layman’s terms) of dengvaxia – the culprit of it all.

Nightmare #3 - The environment around us is not clean. The waterways in Manila and Davao tested positive for the poliovirus. A few years ago, Boracay tested positive for high levels of coliform. If you look around you, we are surrounded by filth. Garbage abounds. Marketplaces have no proper waste management systems. Communities have so much trash. Streets are dirty. There is a mix of urine, feces (coming from man and animals) and rotten food exposed in the streets. Island hotels and resorts lack good sewerage systems leading the refuse, feces, slime, impurities, nastiness into our beautiful pristine beaches. Yes, be careful. Do not be deceived by our beautiful beaches. Somewhere out there is a colony of bacteria or a viral plaque waiting for you.

Nightmare #4 – Traffic! What a mess. From the worst it has reached an inferno and if they continue to push it, we will feel like we have reach impiyerno (hell). I really do not know what’s going on. I don’t understand the bright ideas of the MMDA and the LTFRB top officials. They seem to be planning more for their personal benefits rather than for the common “tao”. Every other day, traffic rules change and the traffic enforcers feast on drivers and commuters’ ignorance of the rules. They keep on issuing violations based on the new traffic schemes. The highways and backstreets are so chaotic. What’s really bad is that patrol cops in motorbikes and cars continue to use their wang-wang and to avoid the traffic, they counterflow. While driving you suddenly see a highway patrol officer act like Moses parting the red sea but in his case, parting the heavy traffic so he can pass or lead a VIP government official to pass. Susmariosep!      

Nightmare #5 – Public transportation fiasco. When will the Department of Transportation and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board ever resolve the crisis? The first problem is caused by privatization systems of public buses, jeepneys and taxis. If government has no control over them, then they will continue to hold strikes anytime and anywhere. Why not pattern our systems on countries where government controls are stronger and more clear so that the public commute is not affected?

Next, what is happening to the never-ending disasters of the LRT and MRT lines? To top it off, you have a senator who suddenly recommends creating VIP or premium seats in the trains. What a tragic comedy! Do our legislators realize the ‘exodus’ happening every morning in all the train stations? Do they know how each citizen is suffering from exhaustion, heat, discomfort, suffocation, stench in the trains? How many years have we tried to resolve this problem from one administration to the next? Nothing is happening! Why not require each congressman and senator and all DOTR and LTFRB executives and senior officers to ride the public transportation every day for a month so that they can clearly understand, see and feel the big problem at hand. And so that they don’t waste their time trying to create bills that don’t really matter because there are more crucial issues that need to be urgently resolved.

Last Wednesday, both the LRT-2 and the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 had power supply problems. Lightning struck part of the LRT-2, causing the trains to stop running. The following day a fire forced the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2) to stop operations at around 11:24 a.m. after the transformer located between its Katipunan and Anonas stations sparked and burst into flames. Just before 5 p.m., the LRT-2 management decided to stop limited runs and instead advised commuters to “find alternative modes of transportation.” So, what alternative modes of transportation are they referring to? The LRT-2 line caters to an average of 200,000 passengers a day. To date, it was reported that it will take 9 months for LRT-2 to be fixed with a minimum of P430 million in cost to replace and restore LRT-2 to its full operational capacity.

Everyone has a story to tell when dealing with government inefficiencies and corruption be it executive, legislative or judiciary. When will our public servants ever change? When will they ever see the light to help the public live a decent and peaceful life. Why are we protecting hoodlums, hooligans and gangsters?

We need more sense of confidence in all our branches of government. As Warren Burger, US Chief Justice said in a 1970 speech: A sense of confidence in the courts is essential to maintain the fabric of ordered liberty for a free people and three things could destroy that confidence and do incalculable damage to society: that people come to believe that inefficiency and delay will drain even a just judgment of its value; that people who have long been exploited in the smaller transactions of daily life come to believe that courts cannot vindicate their legal rights from fraud and over-reaching; that people come to believe the law – in the larger sense – cannot fulfill its primary function to protect them and their families in their homes, at their work, and on the public street.