Why do jeepney drivers violate traffic rules?
Last Tuesday, I had bumped into the new Cebu City Traffic Operations & Management chairman Mr. Vic Caindec who was introduced to me by my good friend Rene Mercado at the City Sports Club. Honestly, I didn't know that Ruben Almendras already quit his job as CITOM chairman. I do know that Raffy Yap has moved on. But while it was a chance encounter, Vic Caindec wanted to sit down and talk shop with me.
Of course, I'm always open to help anyone who takes over the job as CITOM chief in order to commiserate with him. Of course, the first thing that people want to know is whether this person is qualified for the job. Frankly speaking, I can give you a litany of names of individuals working in the government who are not qualified to hold that post and that list seem endless. But since Vic Caindec is a Management graduate, let me say it here that he is better qualified than most of those who handled CITOM. I too am a graduate of Management at the University of San Jose-Recoletos with an additional management course that we took at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM).
After all, handling traffic is management. A simple reminder for Vic Caindec is the three "E's" of Traffic Management: Education, Engineering, and Enforcement. To be a successful CITOM guy, one doesn't have to always be seen on the streets. God knows that we have CITOM enforcers to do that. What is needed is persistence in the implementation of our traffic rules and hopefully, our motorists, especially those erring jeepney drivers, would realize that their driver's license is not a constitutional right to drive but a privilege given by the state.
Last Monday we wrote about the reality of jeepneys today where our erring drivers just don't turn on their lights at night, thus endangering passengers, approaching motorists, and pedestrians. Well, last Tuesday evening as I was waiting for the stop light beside the Provincial Capitol, I was observing a CITOM traffic enforcer right in front of me and two jeepneys passed right before his eyes with no lights on. I beckoned upon the CITOM enforcer and told him to stop all jeepneys and force them to turn on their lights. He recognized me and followed my request and soon, the next five jeepneys that passed the intersection were stopped and the drivers turned on their lights.
What does this story tell you? That jeepney drivers are no longer scared of CITOM enforcers. They know that operating their vehicles at night without any lights is a traffic violation. But since the majority of our enforcers do not apprehend these drivers, this is the very reason why we are seeing jeepney drivers drive recklessly.
Well, I gathered that Vic Caindec wants to discipline these erring motorists. Well, he is in for a shock. Most of these drivers belong to their respective barangays and therefore they are in a way political leaders in their sitios or barrios. So when push comes to shove, they will call their political patrons and these politicians will certainly call on Vic Caindec to be "lenient" to their voters. If at all I was successful during my stint as CITOM chairman, I made sure that politicians did not meddle with my work.
Last Monday evening as I was having my anniversary dinner at the Café Marco of the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel, Mayor Michael Rama was next door having a dinner meeting with the Cebu City councilors. I greeted them as they were having dinner and told them that it was about time that the City of Cebu came up with a strike-three-you're-out scheme. Apprehending traffic violators is no longer enough. They must learn their lessons from that experience so that they would never break our traffic laws again.
If the traffic enforcers in Davao City have strictly implemented their traffic laws, I do not see any reason why CITOM can't be strict in Cebu. We're not asking the Cebu City Council to increase traffic fines. We just want to stop traffic violators from recidivism.
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It's almost the Sinulog Week and once again for the 8th time, Marco Polo Plaza Hotel brings back Sugbusog 2015 Pagkaong' Inato under the guidance of Cebu's culinary guru Ms. Jessica Avila. Sugbusog gives foreign tourists and balikbayans alike the real taste of Cebuano food, which you cannot just get in any restaurant in Cebu. Tomorrow is the official launching of Sugbusog and even this old Cebuano always looks forward to savoring Cebuano dishes. Incidentally, this is the first time in a long time that Marco Polo Plaza Hotel will be celebrating the Sinulog Festival without its old general manager Hans Hauri. Cebuanos will surely miss his company! Pit Senyor.
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