We should have stricter traffic laws!

For our special presentation on our talk show on Straight from the Sky, we bring you an in-depth discussion on Catholicism vis-à-vis other faiths. I chose this topic because our guest for tonight is Ms. Clarita Sanchez whose resume was quite interesting. She was a nun at the Religious of the Sacred Heart and she had to take a leave when she had to take care of her mother in New York City who was to be operated… on of all times, right on Sept.11, 2011. Yes 9-11, which meant that her operation had to be postponed to make way for the victims of the collapsed World Trade Center.

Being a nun, she volunteered to help those victims and was later requested to focus on Pastoral Care and Counseling Chaplaincy. So she did work for New York’s Presbyterian Hospital, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio and in Cornell Medical Center in New York. She was even asked to join the Anglican Church to be a priest. Yes, they accept women as priests there. By then she already left the Convent. But instead of staying in the US like what most Filipinos do, she felt the need to return back home

Arriving back in Cebu, she established a parish-based women’s desk at Santo Rosario Parish. She has a master in Women in Development (WID), a course that I also took at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), and teaches Religious Studies at the University of San Carlos. Since 2002, she has attended the Vipassana Buddhist Retreats in different countries and has taught Buddhist meditation. But what is remarkable in her is that, her Catholicism is so deeply-rooted; she is still a conservative Catholic.

As this is the Year of Faith in this era of the New Evangelization, I asked Clarita Sanchez to be on our show for a healthy discussion of the Catholic faith and the other faiths. So watch this very interesting show on SkyCable’s Channel 61 at 8:00pm tonight with replays on MyTV Channel 30 on M-W-F.

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Apparently our article about illegal parking which we challenged Mayor Michael Rama to solve elicited a lot of email and text responses because clearly this issue has affected many people. One of those who sent me an email requested anonymity when I said that I would reprint his letter. So here’s that letter in full:

“Sir Bobit… Your article is spot on as regards parking and as a prime example, just look at the amount of jeepneys parked on the road overnight. Veterans Drive past Marco Polo Plaza and before the turn off to Mr. A’s has many, many jeepneys parked overnight. I thought that there was a law that a public vehicle should be parked in a driveway, compound or garage?

Certainly, no enforcement of his law is going on and it just narrows the road  and renders one lane useless on either side of the road. JY Square area has so many habal-habals that have not been moved out—wet market right beside the traffic lights, hence cars can park and pick up their fruits, etc. Its total chaos especially around 5-7pm! No enforcers doing anything here whatsoever.

Modern well-planned cities have multi-story car parks and could be good business for private enterprises or the government but then Filipinos don’t like to walk very far. They have a habit of wanting to be dropped off or park right by the entrance of the establishment they are visiting so the drivers are just stationed there causing more blockage for the rest of the motoring public.

Junkyards are a good business for UK/European scrap merchants as metals can be recycled, car parts sold at less than half the price of new yet still good, and  other parts for classic car enthusiasts etc. Remember a lot of write-offs of newly-smashed cars deemed scrap by the insurance companies are good for scrap/spare parts.

As for the Rama leadership, well he is just a pussycat with no aggressive instincts in his body unless it’s to block flyovers, BRT and moving on squatters especially from creeks which makes traffic come to a standstill and increase flooding. Cheers! (Name withheld upon request).

Attention LTFRB!!! The fellow who wrote me that email has been a faithful reader of mine and his observations are right on the nail. When he sees these problems, I always go to the “cause and effect” principle. When you see illegal parking on any road, it is because no one is enforcing our laws. Yes, blame it to CITOM. But like it or not, the LTO is much to blame for CITOM is merely deputized by the LTO. The root cause really goes back to Imperial Manila, where a centralized system cannot function when we are now 90 million people.

Honestly, it is one of the reasons why I didn’t return to CITOM. Because I have always wanted a “Strike three-you’re out” enforcement system wherein a lawless motorist only gets three violations per year and after he makes a third traffic violation, he cannot drive for six months. If that motorist is caught driving within the suspension period, he is fined and prevented from getting his license for a year. Alas, I do not make laws for our country.

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