Hope down South

A recent trip to Cebu gave this writer the chance to hit quite a number of birds with one stone. There was, of course, the chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of Metro Manila’s dizzying traffic. There was also the chance to get treated to a unique chauffeur-driven experience care of my hosts for the stay, Nissan Rent A Car. Finally, and most importantly, through the efforts of The STAR’s counterpart in Cebu, The Freeman, and its ever-helpful staff, I was able to touch base with most of the legitimate auto industry players from the Queen City of the South. Here’s what that eye-opener of a trip taught me.

First, no matter how much traffic and congestion people say there is in Cebu, absolutely nothing comes close to the mayhem that is Metro Manila traffic. There are no buses that swerve four lanes in a single swing. There are no pink fences that rampaging taxi drivers and half-wit bus drivers topple over. There are no turf wars between mayors and ex-mayors — at least not on the roads. Generally, Cebuanos are less obnoxious drivers — sometimes even to a fault. For example, speeding is one violation that’ll probably never make it to the top of their police force’s most-called violations list since leisurely driving seems to be the standard in Cebu. A number of alternative routes are always accessible as well, so the traffic swelling does not reach ridiculous proportions the way it does in Metro Manila.

Next, Cebu’s reputation as a hotbed for imported second hand cars is indeed well-earned. Tina Poblador, this writer’s perennial badminton partner and The Freeman’s advertising manager, learned pretty fast about gray market imports after our rounds with the legitimate auto industry players. Before I left for Manila, she was already pointing out on the road which cars made their way through the legitimate auto industry and which made it through questionable ports. My rough estimate is that she was pointing out one gray market import out of every five cars we encountered on the road.

Which brings us to the third revelation I had in my southern swing. As bad as it is in Metro Manila, Cebu’s gray market problem is much worse. To illustrate, allow me to relate the gist of my conversation with André Borromeo, sales manager of Performance Auto Motor Group, Cebu’s official BMW distributor. Borromeo says that while he follows the directive of BMW Philippines to put a price premium on service and maintenance costs for vehicles proven to have come from the gray market, Performance Auto has also recently loosened on this stance. Ongoing, for example, is the dealership’s give-away P1,500, 45-point check-up — which is made available to all BMW models, wherever they may have come from. "I have to keep my service business profitable," he says. Quite a bitter pill to swallow, if you ask me. Borromeo admits that if he had his way, he wouldn’t have to deal with a gray market segment in his list of clients — but the reality is (and common sense economics dictates) that he has to deal with them. He is, however, also quick to add that there seems to be a ray of hope where curbing more gray market entries into the Cebu scene is concerned — hence the optimism despite the sad truth.

For what its worth, I told him, I was happy to hear that the importing of used vehicles through Cebu’s ports has slowed down. Of course we agreed that it’ll probably mean that the smugglers are preying on some other open port at the moment. Oh well, at least it seems we’ve successfully rammed the cork down that hole — time to look for the next leak in the broken down dam that is our auto industry.

But let’s face it. The damage has been done. With legitimate auto industry players in Cebu having to bite the bullet and their sales numbers showing sluggish growth throughout the years, they have a tremendous amount of catching up to do. Yet folks like Borromeo persevere. Maybe they’re hopeful that the service they aim to provide will make people see the light. Maybe they believe that no matter how much we try to shoot ourselves in the foot by buying products of substandard quality, we’ll eventually run out of bullets (and lousy products to buy) and we’ll finally walk the straight path. One thing’s for sure, the moment the legitimate auto industry players in Cebu call it quits and say, "To hell with this market!" we’ll know it’s over. Fortunately, my recent trip to Cebu showed me everything but that.

There is hope down south, and if only for that, maybe there is hope for the Filipino, after all.

Here’s what you Backseat Drivers had to say last week…

Given the present economic situation, motorbikes are indispensable. — 09209130283

There are many jeepneys who shut down their headlights at night. This is a very reckless violation. The license of these drivers must be suspended for the safety of other motorists. — 09178531454

To the MMDA at the Baranggay Old Capitol site, please do something about parked jeepneys blocking half of Masaya St. U.P. Village 2-4 p.m. weekdays. — 09189304560

The MMDA should put up a pedestrian overpass at the intersection of EDSA and Ortigas Avenue near the EDSA Shrine. Pedestrians cause traffic jams at the junction the whole day. — 09209623650

I was shocked when I heard that the LTFRB has a count of only 45,000 jeepneys. There must be at least five times as many clogging the streets. — 09178459239

Given the MMDA’s current woes, why don’t we substitute it with an agency with police powers to so they can actually enforce traffic rules and apprehend ignorant drivers. — 09183211751

The MMDA is doing a great job in Manila! Why won’t people accept that the projects of the MMDA are helping to clean Manila? — 09164440225

Bayani Fernando has done a tremendous job easing traffic in Metro Manila. The Metro Manila Mayors should just decide to work together with the MMDA. — 09178209351

Binay, Locsin, Atienza, Trinidad, Abalos, mga super-inggit kay super Chairman Bayani. — 09159956370

The efforts of MMDA to control traffic are generally commendable, however, it shows how lousy drivers Filipinos are. — 09189074346

Speak out, be heard and keep those text messages coming in. To say your piece and become a "Backseat Driver", text PHILSTAR<space>FB<space> MOTORING<space>YOUR MESSAGE and send to 2333 if you’re a Globe or Touch Mobile subscriber or 334 if you’re a Smart or Talk ’n Text subscriber.