EDITORIAL - If you can't do it, don't

The DPWH, in coordination with the LTO and the police, has started to clear roads of obstructions. Its targets are structures that occupy portions of the road and vehicles that use the road as permanent garages. The pilot area for the campaign is Minglanilla.

There is no argument that the campaign is good. Roads must be free of obstructions. They should be for the exclusive use of moving traffic. Free and open roads not only provide convenience, they also help enhance safety.

A word of caution, though. The agencies concerned must not be selective. The decision to start in one place -- Minglanilla in this case -- immediately sends warning bells ringing. If the campaign cannot be done in its entirety, better that it not be done at all.

Selectiveness is always a breeding ground for protest. In a country that is rocked by one almost every minute, it might be tempting to say what is one more. On the other hand, one more could be one too many. It could be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

And by selectiveness is not meant just the pilot place -- Minglanilla, to the exclusion of others. By selectiveness is meant all the other adjuncts to a safe and convenient use of passageways, be they for vehicles or for pedestrians.

For example, why focus only on road obstructions when obstructions that block sidewalks can prove to be as inconvenient and as dangerous as well. A sidewalk that is blocked by whatever obstruction forces people to spill over and walk on the road itself.

Obstructions on sidewalks can be anything, ranging from businesses big and small to parked vehicles. These too should be subject for immediate removal, and not just in some pilot area like Minglanilla but anywhere where the problem exists, like in Cebu City for instance.

But again a word of caution. Is the government truly prepared to embark on such a mission?If it is, then well and good. But if it is not, why force an issue that can only lead to misimplementation and failure. Better not embark on something that cannot be seen through to the end.

For the problem here does not simply deal with physical objects that obstruct. The bigger problem is about attitude, of people recognizing only their own needs to the exclusion of the right of others to enjoy unhampered use of public space. Why, there are even businesses who rope off sidewalks, as if they own it.