Seeing the pimple but not the cancer

Every time so many people die in a vehicular crash, government authorities always focus on the “pimple” but never the “cancer.” It’s sad that 19 people died in the recent bus plunge in Mindoro, but sadder that the LTFRB and nobody else will be doing something about it. The LTFRB of course will ground all buses of Dimple Bus Lines. The biggest insult to the LTFRB is that even after their Chairman issued the suspension, the bus company continued to operate with impunity and chances their alibi will be: “We had not received the suspension order yet!”

Each incident is just a throbbing pimple compared to the nationwide cancer where thousands of Filipinos die every year in road accidents. No one has stood up to lead an honest to goodness investigation, study or research concerning how dangerous and life threatening a simple road trip is on the roads of Mindoro, Northern Luzon, Bicol, Negros or the outskirts of Davao City and many other places. Yes road trips in the Philippines can be dangerous to your health; in fact it could get you killed if you are not a defensive traveller and not just a defensive driver! The problem is government simply focuses on public transport accountability but not road safety and law enforcement.

The two places I become very conscious when traveling or driving are Mindoro and outside Bacolod City. In the last three trips I’ve had to Mindoro, I can only shake my head at vans speeding in excess of 120 kilometers per hour on roads that have uneven surface, poor signage, lots of curves and even more undisciplined drivers and pedestrians. Throw in dogs that love to chase cars or chickens on the run as well as rainy weather and you have certain death trolling the highways. According to local residents of Mindoro there are many accidents that go unnoticed because the vans are mostly colorum and the deaths are one or two and not over a dozen which is only when the national media picks it up!

“Travel advisories” can also be issued for driving habits and conditions in Southern Luzon and North Luzon where law enforcement on the part of the Highway Patrol, LTO and the likes are NON-EXISTENT. The only things they stop are delivery vans and cargo trucks but don’t set up speed traps, overloading violations or out of size vehicles.  Any one who has gone through Dalton Pass toward  Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela, etc. has surely seen so many cargo trucks stopping at a particular area where water is just gushing along the road. The truck drivers stop to splash cold mountain water at their brakes and tires to cool the overheated parts due to frequent braking and overloading! That is why many truck and bus drivers always say their brakes failed.

On the island of Negros, driving or traveling at night is at your own risk and at the risk of being slammed by an oversized truck whose headlights are narrower than a truck body. That was what killed a friend of mine as he drove on the highway, mindful of staying in his lane. What he did not realize or saw too late perhaps, was that the pair of headlights coming towards him on the opposite lane had a body that was wider than the lane it was on. At highway speed, it was equivalent to hitting a cement post at full speed!

Yes, we need to investigate accidents and take pre-emptive measures for public safety. But that “pimple” is treated as isolated events and not the cancer that continues to kill day after day after day! Can Senator Grace Poe, Congressman Rene Umali, Manong Congressman Rudy Fariñas and Speaker Bebot Alvarez PLEASE work together and address the cancer and not the pimple!

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LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra was not a happy man when he was told “live on air” that the Bus Company he ordered suspended defied his orders and continued to fill their buses and operate. Chairman Delgra’s words were: “I don’t like what I am hearing! I am going there right now!”

I sincerely hope that Chairman Delgra gets to read this column concerning the state of coupon taxi drivers at NAIA and responds with the same indignation he had toward the defiance of Dimple Bus Lines.

Every time I arrive at NAIA, I always take the fixed rate coupon taxi even if it costs more because of habit and to save time. I also try to find out the latest issues among them and at the airport and recently I was again reminded about the fact that drivers of coupon taxis at NAIA still do 24-hour stints on rotation basis. So, chances of them falling asleep at the wheel is a certainty. In spite of that and the fact that they drive for the public, the drivers don’t have accident insurance! They never heard of death benefits and the only memorial fund any of them stand to receive is whatever all the drivers can contribute! The worst part is these drivers who are 45 to 55 years of age are not covered by SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG!

If Chairman Martin Delgra III wants to leave a legacy or begin something that will benefit people years from now, it would be to thoroughly investigate the matter publicly as well as confidentially in order to catch the taxi and coupon taxi companies violating the law. Chairman Delgra should set up a commission or task force in cooperation with the SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG so the burden is spread out but benefits all! And may God stir Chairman Delgra to do something about this injustice!

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