Killer bus drivers

The death of former Makati RTC judge Rey Laygo and his wife Lilia in a traffic accident involving a Corimba bus brings out once again the insanity of bus drivers who act as if they are kings of the road without any regard for the lives of others. There are a lot of traffic accidents left unreported in media, and while some of them have not resulted in fatalities, that is little comfort for motorists who are now absolutely terrified of ever going near these buses especially along EDSA and Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

A lot of motorists are angry and disgusted with the Metro Manila Development Authority, the LTO and the LTFRB for seeming to be inutile and helpless in ridding the streets of these killers especially at this time of the year. In the first place, colorum buses continue to lord it over despite repeated assurances from government agencies that they are bent on cracking down on these “kabits” and whatever it is they call these vehicles with illegal franchises. And why is it that until now, they have not been able to identify bus operators who are in reality some of the biggest franchise violators? According to our sources, the biggest violator is this alleged “Colorum Queen” who seems to wield a lot of influence and in fact was even said to have instigated the strike last month. “Sayang” because the LTFRB etc. just seem to be paying lip service to the public and just keep promising to suspend violators while innocent motorists and hapless pedestrians continue to get killed by these psycho bus drivers.

Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga is on the right track, demanding for the instant and permanent shutting down of public utility bus liners involved in fatal road accidents. These erring companies – who employ drivers without even bothering to check if they are psychologically fit – should be put out of business with their franchises revoked outright and not just temporarily suspended as has been the practice of LTFRB – which Barzaga called “patently inadequate and ineffective.” After all, a franchise to operate is a privilege granted by government and if these operators continue being derelict, their buses should be taken off the streets. That’s one of the fastest ways to decongest traffic in Metro Manila and help prevent tragic road accidents. 

Framing up for Christmas

We received information about an OFW’s wife who was allegedly framed-up supposedly in connivance with some policemen from a town in Cavite. Apparently, the sister of the wife’s maid called asking for help because of some domestic trouble. The wife decided to help the maid’s sister and her young wards but to her surprise, policemen shortly showed up accompanied by a man claiming to be the father of the kids and charged her with kidnapping. It was known that the victim’s husband is an OFW and the man was demanding P300,000 to drop the charges against the wife. The poor OFW could not come up with the money so the wife up to this moment is languishing in jail.

A lot of con cops regularly do this and their illegal activities escalate during Christmas time. The most common frame-up happens to young motorists who get accosted for some trumped-up traffic violation and slapped with fictitious charges like illegal possession of firearms or drug possession with the supposed “evidence” planted by kotong cops. But one of the worst kinds of frame-up is one that breaks the spirit like what happened to the OFW and his wife. These are all true stories, like what happened with Christian Kalaw who was framed-up by the tourist bus hostage taker, police captain Rolando Mendoza who was leading a double life, and eventually got dismissed from the service.

At the MOPC’s “PNP Night,” Gen. Raul Bacalzo candidly told us he is trying his best to rid the ranks of these scalawags. There isn’t much time left for Gen. Bacalzo who is retiring soon, but we wish him success.

Wealth disparity in Mumbai

It’s rather ironic that Christmas emphasizes even more the great disparity of wealth between people particularly in places like Mumbai in India. This “City of Dreams” is the location of the most expensive house ever, estimated to be worth over a billion dollars that took seven years to build, with 27 floors, an ice room with man-made snow flakes to combat the heat, a yoga studio, a mini theater and other amenities plus three helipads, all sitting on 400,000 square feet of property.

India now boasts some 69 billionaires, 42,800 millionaires and sets the record for having 148 Mercedes Benzes delivered on a single day. But the other face of Mumbai is extreme poverty, with slum-dwellers making up almost 70 percent of the city’s 14 million population, earning for it the nickname “slumbai” with a section called Dharavi known as one of the biggest slum areas in the world. This may be unthinkable but in Mumbai, people earn a living as night rat killers – with these exterminators thinking they are lucky to have such a dirty job because employment is scarce. Even those with university degrees have applied as night rat killers, with successful applicants showing how skillful they are by lifting a 50-kg sack and catching a rat in the dark in just 10 minutes. The quota is 30 rats per night and if one doesn’t meet it, he doesn’t’ get paid. What a job. A friend commented that in the Philippines, there are too many rats with the two-legged variety walking around.

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Spy Bits is taking a break and will resume its activities on Jan. 4. We wish everyone the best of the holidays.

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