When the punishment becomes the crime

“To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction” — Sir Isaac Newton

While most of us remember the physics lesson from Sir Isaac Newton, many Quezon City residents and drivers passing through Commonwealth Avenue have actually experienced and are complaining about “how the punishment has become the crime”.

After years of vehicular accidents and deaths, the MMDA under Chairman Francis Tolentino imposed a get-tough policy by placing a speed limit of 60-kph along Commonwealth Avenue. All violators are slapped with a P1,200 fine as well as undergoing a seminar on safe driving.

A few months after implementation, we now have an incessant stream of complaints on how that action has created an equal and opposite reaction as far as the punishment is concerned.

Instead of simply using their speed radars and issuing tickets and confiscating licenses, these hoodlums who bring shame to the MMDA and the Quezon City government have taken full advantage of their authority to entrap or “scare” offenders into coughing up bribe money.

Just this weekend alone, I heard five different stories with a common thread.

All drivers were read the riot act, told about the P1,200 fine and several days they would have to go off work to attend the seminar and to retrieve their license. After the initial scare tactic, the arresting officer would then do the good cop routine by saying; “times are hard and that we all need to make a living so instead of going through so much hassle, just cough up P500 and you can go your way”.

Given that scenario, the drivers, most of whom are employees, were simply willing to commit the second crime of bribery. In the end, the object of the law, which was to teach drivers a lesson through their wallet and lost time, was not achieved.

Because the arrests were also questionable, the enforcers were not motivated by law enforcement but encashment or cashing in on a situation that would be based on their judgment call.

Granting the power to make judgment call to people who have questionable morals, questionable judgment and questionable finances is worse than giving a gun to a child or a psychopath.

Because Chairman Tolentino wants to get tough he should do so systematically through technology. If they use speed radars, the units must store information on the number of times they were used, the number of times it recorded moving violations and these should be checked against the number of tickets issued.

Other drivers have also complained about how guard rails, U-turn slots and similar “solutions” are constantly being moved and thereby confusing drivers, which end up becoming “encashment opportunities” for the corrupt.

To highlight the level of indifference and callousness, my own brother Mike, told us of an incident sometime June 18 where motorists were startled to see a naked woman walking near the underpass from Batasan road.

The woman was not a “Taong grasa” or bag lady. She was clean and seemed to be physically fit. This alarmed on-lookers because she might have been a kidnap-rape victim or mentally ill.

Out of concern my brother drove to the nearest visible group of people who are responsible for this sort of thing. That happened to be MMDA personnel at the Don Antonio area where he reported the incident as well as the traffic hazard.

Rather than jump to action, they casually told my brother they heard about it and asked: “Maganda ba?” Is this the level of callousness and disarray that the MMDA has reached? Is anyone still in charge or in control of these creatures?

With all his concerns, I don’t want to dump more problems on Chairman Tolentino, but he should know that more and more people have been complaining, not only about the corruption on Commonwealth Avenue, but a growing level of corruption as well as absence of MMDA personnel at crucial spots particularly along the Makati - Ortigas stretch of EDSA.

In addition, several of the MMDA waiting sheds and bus stops are no longer well lighted unlike under the previous administration.

Unfortunately, when ordinary Filipinos become victims of extortion or robbery along the “Matuwid na daan”, it is President Noynoy Aquino and his government who get blamed.

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A nice and decent gentleman I knew from the world of classic cars was on board a flight to the US when he suffered a heart attack.

The cabin crew immediately made an announcement to ask if there was a doctor on board. Unfortunately the only guys on board were a pathologist and a dentist. Yes we all call them doctors but not all of them are apparently qualified to administer emergency medical treatment.

Even if the two “doctors” had the necessary emergency response training, i doubt if the plane had an onboard defibrillator and related drugs needed to deal with such an emergency.

At 75, I don’t even know if it would have made a difference. He died but the story does not end there.

A few days later as I watched Turbo Channel, which is all about cars, planes and bikes, I came across a pinch of history I did not know of.

It seems that in the early days of commercial aviation in the United States, flight stewardesses had to be a registered nurse and not just a pretty face. With the surplus of nursing graduates that we have, the government and those in the aviation industry could help do a lot of good for passengers as well as nursing graduates to spearhead the reinstatement of that policy.

Between babies being born and passengers having a heart attack, the right hands could make a difference.

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