EDITORIAL - Vanity plates

To deter illegal entry into the EDSA busway, the Department of Transportation is considering reversing the traffic flow. DOTr officials said several bus operators have expressed support for the plan. Some drivers, on the other hand, have expressed concern about the scheme, saying it could be confusing for them and could cause road accidents.

While the plan is under discussion, the government should also consider putting an end to the issuance of protocol plates to lawmakers. These are merely extensions of the sirens or wang-wang and blinkers whose use President Marcos has limited to vehicles such as ambulances, fire trucks and officially marked police, law enforcement and military vehicles.

Even in the wang-wang ban, entitled politicians have found a way to go around the presidential order: they get motorcycle escorts from the Philippine National Police or Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to accompany their convoys in shooing away lesser mortals in the traffic-choked streets of Metro Manila.

It is reasonable to accord the top five officials of the land the privilege of moving around unimpeded by traffic when they are on official business anywhere in the country. Only the president and vice president, however, should be allowed to extend the same privilege to members of their immediate family.

As in the case of the wang-wang, the use of protocol plates breeds public resentment. Who says politicians’ work is more important than those of non-politicians, with vehicles bearing the protocol plates meriting special treatment and speedy passage along public roads? The use of protocol plates reflects the misplaced entitlement that has become entrenched among many politicians, especially those belonging to dynasties.

Amid reports of illegal entries into the EDSA busway by vehicles bearing congressional protocol plates, Speaker Martin Romualdez said the House of Representatives has not issued “8” plates to members of the current Congress. The Senate should consider making a similar move. These are vanity plates, and it’s time to put an end to the vanity and entitlement of officials who are on the public payroll.

If lawmakers and their relatives want to arrive on time for their engagements, they should do what everyone else does, which is to provide ample time for their drive, factoring in the period during which they might be stuck in traffic. If they do get caught in gridlocks, well, it could provide impetus to do something more about the traffic mess.