Cancel franchises of striking buses, jeepneys
Cancel franchises of striking buses, jeepneys
Posted 01:13am (Mla time) Feb 04, 2005
By Neal Cruz
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the February 4, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
THE PHILIPPINES is the only country in the world where law violators demand the resignation of those who enforce the law. Associations of jeepney and bus drivers, who are the most notorious violators of traffic rules and regulations and are responsible for the anarchy, chaos and traffic congestion in our streets, are demanding the resignation of Chair Bayani Fernando of the Metro Manila Development Authority who has been doing his best to enforce traffic rules and restore order in the streets.
And it is only Fernando, among all the public officials-police officers, mayors, Cabinet members, bureau directors, etc.-who has been able to impose some sort of discipline among drivers, pedestrians and sidewalk vendors even though he is getting little or no help from the police and some mayors. In fact, three or four mayors are openly fighting him for some strange reasons, considering that they are supposed to be on the same side of law and order.
Perhaps, among these reasons is a desire to grandstand and curry favor with the drivers and sidewalk vendors who, after all, are voters, considering that the next local elections is only two years away. Another could be just plain envy. Fernando gets a lot of publicity and favorable press for his efforts. In fact, he is the one Cabinet secretary who has achieved the most to impose discipline in the streets, despite all the obstacles thrown -- and still being thrown -- his way. Instead of making him resign, we should have more officials like him.
Another reason could be that some local officials and their lieutenants are feeling the pinch of reduced income. For example, it is no secret that the sidewalk vendors of Baclaran were paying tong to some relatives and ward leaders of a previous mayor. That is why they have taken over the area around the Baclaran church and could not be removed. Until Fernando came.
Now the same vendors could be pressuring the incumbent mayor to get rid of Fernando so they could return to their hunting grounds. And as we have seen, this mayor is the most vocal against Fernando's "wet flag" and "no contact" policies. If I am not mistaken, he is also among the mayors who threatened to arrest MMDA traffic aides who attempt to enforce these two policies in their jurisdictions.
Why do the drivers and vendors hate Fernando so much? Because he is making them obey the laws and rules. They have been so used to other namby-pamby public officials, who would rather look the other way than make the effort to enforce the law, so that they now feel constricted by a different official who does the duty that he has taken an oath to do. For they do not want to obey the law. They think they're above the law. They want to do their own thing in the streets, and to hell with the law. And because they are voters, some officials would rather coddle them than enforce the law.
The drivers are threatening to punish the riding public by declaring still another strike if Fernando does not resign. Their franchises mandate that they serve the riding public. But they are going to violate their franchises by denying rides to the public because one man is forcing them to obey the law.
This is a golden opportunity for the Department of Transportation, now headed by a law enforcer, a former chief of the Philippine National Police no less, to finally clamp down on anarchy in the streets. The main reason for the traffic congestion is that there are too many vehicles in the streets, including the jeepneys and buses.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) went overboard in granting too many franchises to buses and jeepneys. Anybody who could pay the fees and pay a fixer could get a franchise. (And anybody who can bribe a fixer at the Land Transportation Office can get a professional driver's license.) Now we have a surfeit of buses and jeepneys in the streets. The buses crawling on Edsa bumper-to-bumper with only a sprinkling of passengers, even during rush hours, is proof of that. The hordes of jeepneys waiting for long hours at jeepney terminals to get their turn to load passengers are proof of that.
This excess of vehicles fighting for the few passengers is what causes traffic jams. They creep along the streets and dawdle at intersections and beside waiting sheds to wait for passengers. They stop in the middle of the streets to load passengers. The drivers are forced to violate traffic rules -- and bribe traffic enforcers-because of the competition. There are too many of them fighting for too few passengers.
The answer, therefore, is to reduce the number of PU vehicles. But the LTFRB cannot cancel franchises without cause. Violating provisions of the franchise, such as refusing to give rides to the public, is one such cause. Therefore, stopping public service without justifiable cause, such as in an unjustified strike, is sufficient reason to cancel franchises. Striking to force a public official to resign because he is enforcing the law is not a justifiable reason to declare a strike. It is coercion.
With fewer PU vehicles in the streets, only enough to service all the passengers, competition will be less and anarchy will stop. Buses can have regular schedules, with scheduled stops like they have in other cities of the world.
The Department of Transportation and Communication should welcome the next transport strike so that it can finally solve the traffic problem.
Posted 01:13am (Mla time) Feb 04, 2005
By Neal Cruz
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the February 4, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
THE PHILIPPINES is the only country in the world where law violators demand the resignation of those who enforce the law. Associations of jeepney and bus drivers, who are the most notorious violators of traffic rules and regulations and are responsible for the anarchy, chaos and traffic congestion in our streets, are demanding the resignation of Chair Bayani Fernando of the Metro Manila Development Authority who has been doing his best to enforce traffic rules and restore order in the streets.
And it is only Fernando, among all the public officials-police officers, mayors, Cabinet members, bureau directors, etc.-who has been able to impose some sort of discipline among drivers, pedestrians and sidewalk vendors even though he is getting little or no help from the police and some mayors. In fact, three or four mayors are openly fighting him for some strange reasons, considering that they are supposed to be on the same side of law and order.
Perhaps, among these reasons is a desire to grandstand and curry favor with the drivers and sidewalk vendors who, after all, are voters, considering that the next local elections is only two years away. Another could be just plain envy. Fernando gets a lot of publicity and favorable press for his efforts. In fact, he is the one Cabinet secretary who has achieved the most to impose discipline in the streets, despite all the obstacles thrown -- and still being thrown -- his way. Instead of making him resign, we should have more officials like him.
Another reason could be that some local officials and their lieutenants are feeling the pinch of reduced income. For example, it is no secret that the sidewalk vendors of Baclaran were paying tong to some relatives and ward leaders of a previous mayor. That is why they have taken over the area around the Baclaran church and could not be removed. Until Fernando came.
Now the same vendors could be pressuring the incumbent mayor to get rid of Fernando so they could return to their hunting grounds. And as we have seen, this mayor is the most vocal against Fernando's "wet flag" and "no contact" policies. If I am not mistaken, he is also among the mayors who threatened to arrest MMDA traffic aides who attempt to enforce these two policies in their jurisdictions.
Why do the drivers and vendors hate Fernando so much? Because he is making them obey the laws and rules. They have been so used to other namby-pamby public officials, who would rather look the other way than make the effort to enforce the law, so that they now feel constricted by a different official who does the duty that he has taken an oath to do. For they do not want to obey the law. They think they're above the law. They want to do their own thing in the streets, and to hell with the law. And because they are voters, some officials would rather coddle them than enforce the law.
The drivers are threatening to punish the riding public by declaring still another strike if Fernando does not resign. Their franchises mandate that they serve the riding public. But they are going to violate their franchises by denying rides to the public because one man is forcing them to obey the law.
This is a golden opportunity for the Department of Transportation, now headed by a law enforcer, a former chief of the Philippine National Police no less, to finally clamp down on anarchy in the streets. The main reason for the traffic congestion is that there are too many vehicles in the streets, including the jeepneys and buses.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) went overboard in granting too many franchises to buses and jeepneys. Anybody who could pay the fees and pay a fixer could get a franchise. (And anybody who can bribe a fixer at the Land Transportation Office can get a professional driver's license.) Now we have a surfeit of buses and jeepneys in the streets. The buses crawling on Edsa bumper-to-bumper with only a sprinkling of passengers, even during rush hours, is proof of that. The hordes of jeepneys waiting for long hours at jeepney terminals to get their turn to load passengers are proof of that.
This excess of vehicles fighting for the few passengers is what causes traffic jams. They creep along the streets and dawdle at intersections and beside waiting sheds to wait for passengers. They stop in the middle of the streets to load passengers. The drivers are forced to violate traffic rules -- and bribe traffic enforcers-because of the competition. There are too many of them fighting for too few passengers.
The answer, therefore, is to reduce the number of PU vehicles. But the LTFRB cannot cancel franchises without cause. Violating provisions of the franchise, such as refusing to give rides to the public, is one such cause. Therefore, stopping public service without justifiable cause, such as in an unjustified strike, is sufficient reason to cancel franchises. Striking to force a public official to resign because he is enforcing the law is not a justifiable reason to declare a strike. It is coercion.
With fewer PU vehicles in the streets, only enough to service all the passengers, competition will be less and anarchy will stop. Buses can have regular schedules, with scheduled stops like they have in other cities of the world.
The Department of Transportation and Communication should welcome the next transport strike so that it can finally solve the traffic problem.
posted by Dante at 3:23 PM
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