Consolacion officials doing a Pilate

We were among the members of the media, who were invited by Toyota Motors Philippines Corp. (TMPC) to its 20th anniversary celebration at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel last Friday.

We were also brought to the 2nd Philippine International Motor Show at the World Trade Center Metro Manila in Pasay City for a chance to get a closer look at the latest models that did not only feature sleeker designs, but also better fuel efficiency.

With most motorists now very keen on getting the maximum mileage from their vehicles, manufacturers have also quickly responded by focusing on that direction.

In fact President Gloria Arroyo, who was the guest of honor during TMPC’s celebration last Friday night, lauded the automotive industry in the country for continuing with their positive growth as the same sector, particularly in the US, dropped by double digits.

To Elijah Marcial and Ana Agregado of Toyota, thank you for being such gracious hosts.  We’ll be looking forward to you launching of the new Innova, the new Hilux and the new Fortuner.

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A very disappointed reader called us up yesterday morning about the situation in the town of Consolacion where a portion of the national highway is now in very bad shape.

The reader said that while he understands that the highway is supposed to be maintained by the national government, he is very dismayed by the action of the local government.

The local government under Mayor Avelino Gungob, who instead of finding ways to get funds for the repair of the road, have instead put up huge billboards telling the public that the road is not under municipality.

Our reader said that it is very disappointing to see such action by local officials when they could have made representations with the national officials to prioritize the repair of this section of the highway.

“Money spent on putting up the billboards, could have been spent to send letters to the national government,” our reader said.

“The Consolacion officials can also spend more time talking to their congresswoman or to senators, who can help them solve the problem,” he added.

The situation in Consolacion has been the subject of many complaints to this column and we sincerely hope that the local officials would wake up to the reality that playing Pontius Pilate will not mean people would say they are blameless.  The next elections are not far away.

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A few weeks ago we received a complaint about how drivers of armored cars violate traffic laws.

Yesterday afternoon, we witnessed how the driver of an armored car with the markings CTK 3725 and plate number UNU-616 committed a string of violations.

The first one we saw was that the driver ran through a red light at corner S. Osmeña and Gen. Maxilom Ave.  A CITOM enforcer, who was on board a motorcycle, told the driver to pull over after the next intersection.

The driver did not heed the order and instead proceeded towards V. Sotto, where he suddenly turned on the hazard lights and swerved left to the opposite lane despite the solid yellow line to get ahead of a long line of vehicles.

That driver would probably claim he violated traffic laws for security reasons, but if indeed he was conscious of security, he would not have opened the door to peek out while he stopped at corner S. Osmeña and T. Padilla.

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