Jeepneys to hike fares? Wait first!

Well, finally, except for the coming end of Ramadan tomorrow, we've gotten over that very, very long weekend due to All Saint's and All Soul's Day. From the coverage of all the local newspapers, congratulations are in order for having a very peaceful All Saint's and All Soul's Day. I checked with our Citom personnel deployed in strategic areas and they told me all was quiet. Thanks to the valiant efforts of Vice-Mayor Michael Rama and the rest of the team from Peace and Order Council for the peaceful holding of that very long weekend holiday. I know what kind of hard work goes into this effort when I used to run traffic and it's no joke and a thankless job! Congrats!

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The 1st of November is supposed to signal the implementation of the E-Vat and even before it's effects can be felt, already jeepney, bus and taxi operators are demanding increases in their fares in anticipation of a crisis. But can't these people wait till what they fear hits them? If any, I know that the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) would grant them their demands when the time comes, but not before.

But now is the time for the people in the transportation industry to take a long hard look at what lies ahead of them. A great majority of jeepney or taxi drivers, perhaps owing to their lack of education, cannot see further than the next corner; hence, someone must point things out to them. For instance, surely these drivers can see that five years ago, there were few motorcycles or scooters on the road. That's due to the fact that the manufacturers or assemblers of motorcycles only sold motorcycles for tricycles, thinking that we would become a tricycle society. Perhaps in the other areas of the Philippines, but not in Cebu.

In case you're not watching, suddenly jeepney or taxi drivers will realize that they'd run out of passengers who will now opt to ride scooters, motorcycles and the like in going to their place of work. Consider this: If the Philippines is 20 years behind Taiwan, then all we need to do is look at what Taiwan was 20 years ago and see what we can become.

Twenty years ago, the streets of Taiwan was filled with scooters and small motorcycles because their bus fares (no they don't have jeepneys there) increased, up to the point that on a monthly, their fares were about the same as when you paid for a scooter. But the big difference is that, you have the freedom to choose when to leave the office or when to go home.

Granting that the LTFRB gives jeepneys a P7.50 fare hike. Multiply this by two for going to and from work, then by six, granted that people work for six days. That figure comes to P90. Multiply this by four weeks, it totals P360 a month. If your wife works and rides with you, that's P720 per month. What if you have kids at school who also has to pay their fares Now that's when a smart man comes into the picture and says to himself, it's time to do something about this problem and buy a scooter or a motorcycle and save time and money. When that time comes, believe me, the jeepney driver would now demand from the government where are the passengers? Mind you, that someday is fast approaching or it's already here!

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This story was in the front page of the Philippine Star yesterday, perhaps the most embarrassing story that the environmental watchdog Greenpeace has experienced, when its infamous flagship, the Rainbow Warrior II damaged the coral reef off Palawan, the famous Tubbataha Reef Marine Park! That's the problem with NGOs like Greenpeace who go to the extreme of advocating their cause and in the end, they end up destroying a part of what we should all protect! But do Greenpeace activists have to be in Tubbataha

Reefs itself in order to make a point?

I don't know how the Tubbataha Reef Marine Park came up with the figure of P384, 000 fine for Greenpeace that's money they can easily pay, and it's loose change to them! But Greenpeace ought to be told to get off the Tubbataha Reef! If you didn't know, ordinary Filipinos couldn't even afford to visit Tubbataha Reef, which is a World Heritage site of the United Nation's Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) because there are no passenger vessels or Supercats that ply routes in that area. The only way to get into the Reef is when you have a yacht or a sailboat luxury that you and me could ill afford. Greenpeace blames this "accident" on faulty charts. The truth is, that was an accident waiting to happen. And why CNN or BBC didn't feature this story escapes me. You can say that finally, Greenpeace got its comeuppance!

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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila's columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com