Unfortunately, five minutes after our conversation, things wouldn’t be as cheerful. My wife, who just got off her mobile phone with Sandy Estrada, told me that my former boss, Antonio "Tony" L. Mapa, president of the Automobile Association Philippines (AAP) and Shan’s father-in-law was killed in a vehicular accident in Negros at around 5:30 a.m. Even though the news came from a highly reliable source, I couldn’t believe that Tony, a staunch road safety advocate and an overly careful driver, would meet his untimely death in a road accident. I learned later from colleagues that Shan got the news at about the same time I did and was devastated by it.
Truth be told, I didn’t know how to react to the news of Tony’s death. We didn’t exactly jive during my short nine-month stint at AAP as marketing manager, often arguing about broken promises and impossible demands, but we had a mutual respect for each other. The last time I talked to him was when we had a long telephone conversation one late night in January after my resignation from AAP. He promised to get the AAP Board’s approval to rehire me as a consultant but due to the nature of things at AAP, he cautioned me that it might take a while. I felt that Tony was just stringing me along to rein in my feisty nature ("free spirit" as he often refers to it), but that’s just Tony — a shrewd negotiator and a tactful businessman and I hate it that he had me hook, line and sinker.
However, as a motoring enthusiast and a driving and safety advocate, I hold him in high regard. That is why I find it extremely ironic that a man who dedicated his life in pursuit of road safety advocacies would meet his untimely demise in an avoidable road accident. I refer to it as "avoidable" because it could have been avoided if only our traffic authorities were doing their jobs.
The vehicle that collided with Tony’s Toyota Land Cruiser was an Isuzu Elf truck with a wide bed that extended its sides. It was later found out that the truck had a defective left head light, thus Tony couldn’t have seen the left edge of the extended bed until it was too late. The leading edge of the extended bed cut through the left front portion of the Land Cruiser like a can opener and pushed the front fender, firewall, brake master cylinder, A-pillar and steering column into the driver’s seat, pinning and crushing Tony. Rescuers said that he was still alive when they got to the scene but it took them a long time to extricate him from the tangled mess. He succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital.
Had the LTO office that renewed the registration of that Isuzu Elf truck actually inspected it and found the extended bed too wide and unsafe, the truck shouldn’t have been on the road. Had a traffic officer cited the driver for operating a vehicle with a defective left headlight, the truck could have been more visible at night. Had these things been done, the accident, and the fatal collision could have been avoided. Had there been a competent and fully-equipped accident response team in that area, the rescue could have been successful. But ironically, the laws that state that these things should have been done were ignored and the result was another tragic loss of life.
And ironically, we are all guilty. After all, we choose to ignore the ironies that surround our everyday lives which results in lives lost in road accidents. For example:
Isn’t it ironic that a city like Mandaluyong can arrogantly implement its own coding scheme different from the MMDA yet it couldn’t patrol its streets to apprehend jeepney drivers who make terminals out of street corners or drive without their headlights at night? Just take a drive down Boni Avenue at night and you’ll see how these unsafe PUV drivers are plying the road.
Isn’t it ironic that government undertakes a road widening project only to be used as parking spaces upon its completion by the supposedly "urban poor" dwelling near the road and roadside establishments such as restaurants and vulcanizing shops? Drive down Agham Road in Quezon City or Nueve de Febrero Street in Mandaluyong and see how the three-lane road is narrowed down to one lane because the squatters unsafely park their vehicles in one lane while pedicabs or tricycles hog another one. Even the policemen at the substation at Agham Road near the corner of Quezon Avenue are guilty of illegal parking.
Isn’t it ironic that helmet manufacturers have designed full-face helmets to ensure effective head and face protection for motorcycle riders yet the local government of Marikina decreed that riders cannot wear these helmets in the city because they might engage in criminal activities? Oh, come on! Riders wear full-faced helmets for safety reasons. Why don’t they ban fully tinted vehicles as well? Crimes will be committed regardless of what perpetrators ride, drive or wear on their heads. It is the presence of law enforcers that deter criminal activities.
Isn’t it ironic that policemen who are supposed to enforce the law are the first ones to violate it? Just look at some motorcycle cops — they ride without helmets. Look at cop cars, most of them are parked facing the wrong way, against the flow of traffic or worse, in the middle of the road ("paradang pulis" in local parlance). If a marked police vehicle approaches an intersection, more often than not, it will not stop for a red light. It will just drive on with wanton disregard for traffic laws and the safety of other motorists.
Isn’t it ironic that the boundary system that is supposed to make PUV drivers earn more money now actually works the other way? Because of higher fuel prices and operating costs, the boundaries (money given to PUV operators) are also higher pushing drivers to drive more recklessly, ignore traffic signs and disregard traffic laws just to get more passengers and ply their routes faster. Because of the increasing number of PUVs on the road, each tricycle, taxi, jeepney or bus gets fewer passengers per trip thus decreasing their earnings per trip. Factor in the grease money ("tong") they give to unscrupulous cops, the money for the "performance enhancers" they take to invigorate them for the longer drive (Red Bull, Lipovitan, coffee, cigarettes, vitamins or worse, "shabu") and the costs of the deterioration of their health from pollution, stress, incorrect seat posture, heat exposure and their vices, and drivers are left with almost nothing. Yet, they have the audacity to father several children with their wives, contributing to their financial woes and our country’s growing population problem.
Isn’t it ironic that while private motorists pay taxes (income tax, road user’s tax, value-added tax, etc.) and PUV drivers don’t (because they are supposed to be below the minimum income bracket) the PUV drivers are given preferential treatment? Private cars are subjected to coding while the PUVs are not. Buses can encroach on private car lanes but private vehicles get flagged down when they drive onto bus lanes. There are stringent safety requirements for private cars (seat belts, etc.) but there seem to be none for PUVs. Why is government burdening the taxpayers while the tax delinquents or the non-taxpayers are wreaking havoc on the road? Shouldn’t government undertake a paradigm shift and take care of the private motorists and motorcyclists because they are a bigger population than PUV drivers?
Isn’t it ironic that even with the implementation of the Clean Air Act, smoke-belching FXs, jeepneys, buses, trucks and private vehicles are still allowed to run on the roads? Blame a loophole or a fixer for the quality of the air we breathe. Why should the operators of these vehicles care? As far as they’re concerned, they just want to be left alone to mind their own business. Meanwhile, our environment is slowly changing for the worse.
Ironic isn’t it? But if you really think about it, it simply isn’t just ironic anymore. It’s becoming moronic. Day in and day out we complain about the deterioration of road safety and human values in our society yet we contribute to it with our inaction and insensitivity that it has become a big joke. Unfortunately, the irony of it all is that the joke’s on us.
Fortunately for Tony Mapa, he has left this ironic world for a better, safer place in God’s kingdom. We should all be as lucky.
Send your ironic reactions to lesterdizon@yahoo.com