A nation of criminals?

First the good news and compliments to the new management at the Manila International Airport Authority for acting on years of complaints and anomalies concerning services and security at the various NAIA Terminals.

I recently heard that the NEW MIAA management conducted several operations and stings to catch drivers peddling unauthorized taxi services as well as several “contractors” who were charging exorbitant prices to travellers in need of taxi services. The new team also managed to arrest a member of the dreaded Airport Police who are notorious for intimidation and extortion of passengers. One very good indicator that the NAIA officials are actually looking after the public’s concerns is when the MIAA Manager ordered that more seats be placed in the terminals so that visitors and passengers don’t have to sit on the floor particularly at Terminal 3 which I wrote about in a previous column.

We should not only expect change from government in places like the MIAA, we should welcome the change, speak of the change and express our appreciation of the changes made. Let us be encouragers.

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No less than President Rodrigo Duterte has asked the question: Why does government punish the public?  I ask: Why does the government or bureaucracy insist on making Filipinos a nation of criminals? Whether it’s cars, guns, estates, or traffic rules there is always a stumbling block thrown at Filipinos that turns them into instant criminals. Why do bureaus or government offices insist on making rules or implementing systems that are nearly impossible to comply with and then tell us to check online if we are guilty or in other cases Just wait or pray for amnesty?

The MMDA keeps talking about how many thousand no-contact apprehensions they have made. The only problem is that the “criminal” or traffic violators have been apprehended only on video and not real life. As far as most people are concerned apprehension has to be actual and physical, not conceptual and virtual. In effect, the government through the MMDA declares thousands of Metro Manila drivers as criminals without any of them even realizing it! Now they have the temerity to tell us “if you want to know” check out the MMDA website!

Instead of trying to be high tech and “cool” why not spend time arresting the biggest group of offenders namely the jeepney drivers whose constant justification for ignoring the law is their ignorance or poverty. Enough is enough! Stop focusing on private vehicle owners and drivers whom the MMDA and local traffic enforcers have preyed upon for years while being intentionally blind to traffic violations of jeepney and UV Express drivers who even maintain a radio communications network to warn other drivers that there are LTO and LTFRB personnel in their route.

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The LTO purges or cleans up their records by issuing new plate numbers every decade or change of administration and those unfortunate enough not to have registered or complied discover that their records are deleted, excluded or purged from the system. Unless you have documentary evidence, you can’t register the vehicle because the LTO Mafia has created multiple roadblocks and the only way is to pay a fixer that the LTO claims do not exist but manage to charge 20,000 to 50,000 to restore a file or re-register your vehicle.

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The firearms and explosives unit of the PNP does something similar usually when there is a change of administration and as a consequence people who fail to register their guns end up in possession of “loose firearms” thereby automatically making them criminals. Instead of reducing the number of “loose firearms,” the system simply adds more to the statistics because the PNP refuses to register expired licenses. Ironically, when people actually want to and try to register their “loose firearms” they are advised to just wait and pray that an “amnesty” is declared. In the mean time just pray you don’t hear a knock on the door or that you don’t ever need to use the gun in self-defense, until you are given amnesty!

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Through the years, the Bureau of Customs has been required to enforce rules or policies crafted and lobbied for by vested interest groups concerning the entry of products that directly compete or affect the profits of vested interest groups, primarily cars and the likes. In between the implementation of such policies, a handful of Filipinos importing such products get caught in transit or stuck, unable to process their valuables and are told to just wait until the next amnesty. We want business and investments to increase but we don’t work at having a level playing field, allow interest groups to dictate on the business of the BOC and then leave others in limbo waiting to get an amnesty.

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Business people and families who have suffered financial setbacks are either forced to compromise with corrupt BIR officials or go underground and effectively become “tax evaders” because the system does not provide for a means or resolution to their case. Again their only hope is that the BIR or the government would declare an “amnesty.”

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Whether it is our fault or not, why does the government and our current system persist in PREVENTING citizens from settling their accounts, complying with rules and regulations, updating their documentation EVERYDAY? This is the equivalent of what the British call “Biting your nose to spite your face.” Instead of promoting another form of corruption by making “amnesty” special, why not make everyday an “amnesty day” for Filipinos who want to get their business with government in order.

Open the doors to people if you really want their business. As President Duterte said: “Why is government punishing the people?” Stop punishing Filipinos and stop taking away business and profit from government. Make everyday “amnesty day.”

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