Syndicated

Every other man on the street, who is not a senator, knows exactly how people like Harry Roque and Alice Guo managed to slip out of the country past the border controls of the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

Have money, will travel. There are enough syndicates involving law enforcers themselves ready to facilitate one’s flight from the law.

We have a long history of political and criminal personalities slipping out of our borders with ease. Recall how Geny Lopez and Serge Osmeña slipped out of their cells and through the country’s backdoor in the cruelest days of martial rule.

For a fee, there is never a shortage of “facilitators” to make the impossible entirely feasible. There are enough syndicates with vast international connections to make the most dramatic escapes happen.

Freshly installed BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado has moved fast and decisively the last few days to restore his bureau’s effective control over cross-border movements.

Last Monday, Viado closed a vital loophole that allowed deportees to avoid being returned to their home countries to face the law there. He issued a memorandum banning the use of flights with layovers when deporting illegal and undesirable aliens to their countries of origin.

Whenever possible, the order states, deportees must be boarded on direct flights to their home countries. Upon arrival, they are handed directly to law enforcement authorities in foreign countries.

In cahoots with corrupt officers of the BI, these deportees were able to jump ship, so to speak, to prevent being returned to their countries of origin. Booked on flights with layovers, they simply stepped out of foreign airports and disappeared into the borderless underworld.

Skipping flights home is particularly prevalent among undesirable aliens linked to the now banned POGO operations here. Many of the deportees have criminal records in their home countries.

Closing this loophole is only one facet of the complex problem faced by our immigration authorities. Extensive and well-entrenched syndicates have long been involved in importing unsavory aliens, fixing their papers to establish domicile, acquiring new identities and even linking them to local business contacts.

The same syndicates are also known to facilitate the escape of undesirable aliens detained by our law enforcement agencies. So extensive are these syndicates, they are often able to provide the full package of services, including fake documents.

Just recently, law enforcement agencies of the BARMM along with the PNP arrested five Chinese nationals at the Zamboanga International Airport. Linked to POGO outfits here, the five also face criminal charges in China. Their “transporters” prepared an escape route for them through the southern backdoor.

We can only hope Viado succeeds in the reforms he is introducing at the BI. This particular agency must be saved from the syndicates.

Marilao

Tens of thousands of motorists were trapped at the NLEX after a truck rammed the bridge above the expressway at Marilao. This was not an accident. It was plain stupidity – of the same sort that brought down a bridge in Isabela last month.

One simple act of stupidity, we learn here, can bring untold inconvenience to hundreds of thousands who expected everyone else to be observant of the rules.

It turns out that truck managed to pass the height sensors installed at the entry stalls of NLEX at a moment when there were no eyes on those sensors. Then it used the lanes reserved for Class 1 vehicles along the tollway, ignoring the signs keeping trucks on the outermost lane. This was irresponsibility all the way.

It turns out the bridge damaged by this errant truck belonged to the local government of Marilao and was not an NLEX asset. Nevertheless the tollways company took it upon itself to replace the damaged steel girders. Leaving it to the local government would have taken forever and stalled traffic on the expressway for an intolerable amount of time.

When the accident happened, NLEX quickly dispatched patrol officers, investigators and emergency response teams to the area. As a safety measure, two lanes underneath the damaged bridge were closed to traffic. Alternative routes going to the Bocaue entrance were rapidly cleared.

In addition to taking responsibility for repairing this ill-fated bridge, NLEX is adding more sensors at all entry points to make sure trucks meet the height limits. More people will be deployed to prevent irresponsible drivers from sneaking past the sensors. So much expense accrues to the tollway operator – expense that might not have been necessary if every motorist can be relied upon to be mindful.

This costly accident is also about motorists constantly observing road safety. There is a reason why beams are installed at the entry points. It is absolutely irresponsible to run through these controls.

The management of the expressway is only one factor in the long equation of road safety. Motorists have the responsibility to observe the traffic rules – especially height and weight limits imposed on heavy vehicles.

The regulatory agencies such as the LTO and the LTFRB are also part of this equation. They should reliably enforce the rules even as irresponsible drivers may try to evade them when no one is looking.

Most important, all of us who use the road must feel that we are part of a responsible community. Traffic rules are not imposed as a matter of whim. They are there so that we all live another day.