How P-Noy can turn his Year of the Bus into a happier Year of the Rabbit

Good things come, and I’m not just referring to riding the buses.       — Lionel Blue

Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.  — Richard Branson

First of all, this writer joins the whole world in condemning those spineless cowards who recently killed and injured defenseless civilians in their crude bomb attack in Makati, and I urge that our society should not be terrorized by their dastardly act or threats!

Defy their gloom and doom with economic boom, driven by faith, positive thinking, hard work, social peace, prayer, good humor and discipline in this auspicious Year of Bugs Bunny which begins on Feb. 3 according to the ancient Chinese lunar calendar.

I was about to end a late luncheon meeting with RFM boss and Philippine STAR columnist Joey Concepcion that same day, when his dad the indefatigable Joe Concepcion joined us to break the bad news that there was a fatal bomb explosion along EDSA highway “right outside Barangay Forbes Park,” which the latter used to head as its barangay chairman.

That evening of the Makati bomb attack, I was at a 40th anniversary dinner of the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) at Dusit Thani Hotel ballroom where founders Dr. Washington SyCip, Ambassador Howard Q. Dee, Ambassador Bienvenido Tan, Jr., philanthropist Angelo King and others were honored by President Noynoy C. Aquino. P-Noy apologized for being two and a half hours late, because he visited the bomb blast victims at St. Luke’s.

At the PBSP reception, PLDT/Smart boss Manny Pangilinan shared sad news that he had received text messages confirming that two of the victims were their BPO employees; one was critically injured and the other was killed.

I strongly support gutsy political leaders like Senator Bong Revilla who advocate using the death penalty to punish and deter culprits of such heinous crimes, in the same way the world’s No. 1 constitutional democracy USA and ASEAN’s most progressive nation Singapore decisively enforce the death penalty to valiantly uphold rule of law against the worst crooks.

The Biggest Bus Lines Intrigued A Former Congressman

Last Jan. 26 at the birthday dinner hosted by Regal Films founder Mother Lily Y. Monteverde for actress Judy Ann Santos’ manager Alfie Lorenzo at Imperial Palace Suites, he jokingly remarked that the culprit behind the bus bombing was none other than singer and restaurateur Claire de la Fuente because the government had just cancelled her bus franchise after her firm had joined a transport strike. Of course, Lorenzo stressed that it was only a joke.

The mentioning of Claire de la Fuente and her buses reminds me of an anecdote also very recently shared at a lunch by Philippine STAR columnist Jessica Zafra, who said she once co-hosted a TV talk show with gifted writer former Congressman Teddy Boy Locsin.

When they had Claire de la Fuente as guest, Jessica was introducing her to their TV show producer by saying: “She has one of the biggest bus lines in the country” and she noticed her co-host Teddy Boy staring weirdly at the chest of their guest, and Jessica had to empathically clarify by saying: “Bus line, not bust line!”

Seriously, ever since President Noynoy C. Aquino assumed the leadership of this republic in June 2010, it seems that this new era up to now has become the “Year of the Bus” for him (and even for us) with all the strangely coincidental bus-related disasters in our news headlines. 

Think about it. This latest bomb attack on a crowded bus in Makati was just the latest of several bus mishaps and also quite bizarre, since I incredulously — almost falling off my seat in my van — heard on the radio that the bus was driven by a guy named Maximo Peligro, which is Spanish for “maximum danger”! That could have come from a magical realism novel by one of my favorite authors, Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez!

Other bus-related disasters that have plagued P-Noy’s era so far include the clumsily handled Hong Kong hostage tragedy on board a tourist bus; a bus crashing into the vehicle of a beauty queen in August 2010; buses falling off cliffs, etc. Just this month, I read that a reckless bus driver trying to overtake a car at the STAR tollway in Batangas fatally crashed into a passenger jeepney and a car. The only thing we have not yet heard of, so far, is a busnapping or busjacking!

Why all these bus-related mishaps? A friend remarked that it all started when P-Noy proclaimed in his Arneow Tagalog during his inaugural speech: “Bus Ko Kayo!”

Change bus system, change bus driver mentality, change our buses, please!

Make no mistake about it, I love buses. Whenever I think of childhood school field trips or foreign trips as part of tour groups, I fondly remember long and enjoyable bus rides.

My late dad also had bus lines owners among the best customers for the sawmill business decades ago, when old buses reportedly had wooden floors and other parts made of sturdy Philippine lumber (supposedly among the world’s finest). One of his best clients include the De Dios family of Tondo who used to own De Dios Transit.

The reason I am writing about this recent bus trouble is my genuine concern about our Philippine buses and also about our public transport system in general.

We need decisive reforms of Metro Manila’s public transport system. Why don’t we follow the system in China’s burgeoning cities wherein buses have systematic routes and numbered accordingly? Study also the bus and public transport systems of Germany, Singapore and other societies for a more efficient economy and for better quality of life.

Also, I urge government to discourage — if not totally ban — the importation and purchase of second-hand or third-hand junk vehicles like buses, trucks and others plus old seagoing vessels and planes from wealthy countries like Japan or even from Russia and Eastern Europe

Buying pre-owned and second-hand or third-hand cars makes good financial sense, but for goodness sake, when shall our government officials ban overly antiquated cars from cluttering our streets and shockingly polluting our air?

There should be a maximum limit to the number of years that any car owner can still register, insure and still use a vehicle, not indefinitely! Of course, there can be exemptions — for a special fee — for antique car aficionados.

How many lives have been lost in maritime disasters caused by rickety old ships dumped by Japan and other rich countries on us, which operators buy, refurbish, repaint and rename but which often tragically endanger public safety with so many sea tragedies causing more deaths than terrorist bombs?

This writer recommends the government’s Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) or private banks should extend special credit terms to support those entrepreneurs willing to upgrade and invest in new, more energy-efficient and much safer buses, trucks, etc.

Bus drivers in Metro Manila or provincial routes — also our elective government leaders, please — should also be stringently screened via psychiatric exams and proper driver’s license exams.

One smart act of President Noynoy Aquino was the banning of wang-wang or blinkers in vehicles; that shows us that this car-loving national leader somehow also shares our daily frustrations in the horrific traffic jams which typically waste two hours of our lives per trip anywhere in our metropolis. How many billion pesos’ worth of economic productivity and personal income (plus unquantifiable quality time for leisure or family) are lost daily?

President Noynoy can and should save our buses, our public transport system and Metro Manila traffic from perdition worse than any terrorist threat.

I hope P-Noy and our other leaders will decisively push bold, sweeping and comprehensive reforms now, so that he could turn his Year of the Bus into the more auspicious and cheerful Year of the Metal Rabbit!

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