Vigilance in the time of Facebook

Unless you are living in a cave, in which case I don’t know how you got your copy of this fine newspaper or its online equivalent, you probably have some form of Internet presence or other. You have an email address, photos and documents pertaining to your life are forever out there in the digital ether, and you have a Facebook account. Perhaps even Twitter. If you still have Friendster, well, good for you.

Whatever the case, you are probably aware, through the phenomenon of social networking, that there are now remarkably clear photos of a certain front passenger of an Isuzu Trooper brandishing a handgun in what looks to be an altercation with the person who took the photos. Thankfully, no shots were fired, but the intent was clear: to threaten violent action with the use of a deadly weapon.

Now, in another instance of information at the speed of DSL, friends of friends have also revealed that the Trooper is apparently registered to a female resident of Marikina. The person in the pictures is most certainly not her, so now the question is who is this guy? A friend? A relative? A bodyguard? Someone who bought the Trooper from her before but didn’t bother to change the ownership in the registration papers? A politician? Maybe she can come out and clarify because it’s all over the Internet now.

Gun ban or no gun ban, I know it’s against the law to have done what the gun wielder did. Heck, you could even go to jail for doing that with an airsoft replica, so waving a real firearm in front of a person is reason enough for criminal charges. The Trooper fellow even has his finger curled around the trigger instead of properly indexed (alongside but not around the trigger), which means that a sudden stop, a bump in the road, or even a slight twitch in his hand could discharge the weapon, and who knows where the bullet would end up in. Subsequent photos catch him with his mouth open, apparently issuing a stream of expletives at the cameraman.

I’m not a lawyer so I don’t know what the exact rules are, but common sense dictates that – if you must carry a firearm – do it responsibly and discreetly. If your reason for carrying is self-defense (assuming that there is no Gun Ban in effect), you don’t wave it in front of the first person you get annoyed with in traffic, much less actually shoot him just like the recently apprehended (and dramatically so) Mr. Jason Ivler. Your only valid and legal reason for pulling out a firearm in public is to defend yourself. Certainly not to get right-of-way or to show how tough you are.

I’m not an anti-gun advocate; actually I confess to a certain fascination with firearms. I don’t own one myself, but I enjoy shooting whenever the opportunity allows and I know many responsible owners who have licensed firearms and Permits to Carry. I know none of them have ever casually displayed their weapons in public, yet all enthusiastically share with me how much fun they have in the firing range where strict safety rules are enforced. And yes, I know they would rather be inconvenienced with complying with the Gun Ban rather than risk being caught with their firearms in public.

But I digress. My point with “Mr. Trooper” (how ironic) is that he was caught in the act of violating the Gun Ban and of irresponsibly threatening to use a weapon over what looks to be a minor traffic altercation. Thanks to the quick thinking of the other party, his thoughtless act was caught on camera for all to see. The person who took the photos, by the way, is someone I don’t know. But thanks to social networking, someone I know has a connection in some way or other to the cameraman, which led me to write this column in the end.

Here’s my simple proposal: let’s fire back at all the power tripping goons we encounter on the road. It’s not enough to complain and whine and do nothing in the end. Of course, it’s wrong to literally unload bullets in every intersection and avenue at offending parties as if this were downtown Los Angeles, but what I mean is to keep our cameras and shutter fingers ready at a moment’s notice.

Who knows how much more airtight the case might be against Jason Ivler if a few quick-thinking shutterbugs had been around at the time of his road rage incident? How many times have we come across a road rage article with no way of identifying the perpetrators because no cameras or no witnesses were around at the time?

Or let’s ask something you can really relate to: How many times have you been forced off your lane by a convoy of white Innovas and Patrols loaded with thugs masquerading as bodyguards for some self-important politico who needs to compensate for a tiny dick with a pathetic display of “power”?

I can’t remember how many times I’ve seen this happen, but I do remember one instance when, coming from the Bicutan off-ramp on the SLEX, a fast moving convoy actually feinted to body-slam into a civilian in a Nissan Sentra in front of me. The poor Sentra could not give way in his lane because on his other side was an 18-wheeler truck. It made my blood boil at the time, and just remembering it makes me wish I was quicker with my camera phone.

It also makes me admire all the more another colleague who would have none of this bullying. Upon encountering another convoy of thugs that had the temerity to point an assault weapon at him, he actually rolled down his window, pointed at his forehead, and dared the coward to pull the trigger. Thankfully, the goon didn’t have the guts to do so, and now my friend’s brave (although you might call it careless) act is the stuff of minor legend.

The next time we see another sickening display of road rage, of power tripping, and of whatever act of violence or threat that just sickens us to the core, record it. And then post it on the World Wide Web. Perhaps the element of Shame can still cow people into sticking to the rules of decency and civility.

Policemen can’t man every street corner, and photojournalists can’t catch every criminal in the act, but we citizens are literally all over the road. We’ve all got cellphones. We’ve all got Internet access. It’s time we did something more meaningful with such weapons of mass distraction than wasting our time on Farmville, Mafia Wars or taking lame online quizzes. When the law enforcement system cannot suffice to protect the population which it is designed to serve, then we the people must take the initiative.

Let the world know who these losers are. What goes around comes around. Sooner or later these fellows will realize that it really is a small world after all, and everyone will know how pathetic and cowardly they really are behind the false security of guns and goons. If it so happens that they are persons holding positions of authority, then all the more that we should hold them accountable for their actions.

What do you know? Your Backseat Driver reactions from last week’s “We’re being abused and we’re paying for it” by Lester Dizon actually pre-empted the topic this week! Your timing and sense of relevance is uncanny, dear readers. Here are some of the more apt reactions to both last week’s and this week’s topics…

Good for you Lester, that you have a media ID. For us lesser mortals, we only have our camera cellphones. Maybe we ought to just take pictures of these convoys and send them all to you so you can publish them in all their arrogant glory. We decided to return to the Philippines after living abroad for some time. Each time I encounter these idiots, I ask myself if we did the right thing. How about we maintain a pool of topnotch mangkukulams who can do wonders with the pictures? Just a thought.... – lorie624

I agree with Lester. We all go through this daily traffic mess. But regular motorists adjust by leaving early for meetings etc. If these officials with escorts want to get to their KAPIHAN early, then they should leave for it early. It is not an excuse, that just because you have escorts with you and you can use them to go past traffic jams, eh you should always leave late. I think what we should do Lester, since this is the digital age, we should take videos of these a*holes abusing the use of these escorts. I read something before that Thailand was doing that same thing in giving traffic violations. Regular people can video tape or take pictures of traffic violations, and submit them to the traffic office. However, what we should to these abusive people is video tape them with their escorts weaving in and out of traffic and then post it on youtube, facebook and all the other social networks, plus give it to the news and media people to do with as they please. I think the only way to really get these people to stop is to publicly humiliate them by putting them on the news. What’s worse is that there are times when the public official is not in the convoy and its just the escorts wanting to get home fast so that they can take a dump in the toilet. Hey, if its true, the best picture was that of Mayor Lim in this morning’s paper. He took a cab to go to an event. Now that’s what they should do! – fubar

It is imperative that we first educate everybody, the general motorists, the law enforcement agencies, and the abusive and arrogant government officials. Once we all know what is and is not allowed under the law, we can then be comforted by the thought that we would be in the right when we do raise a howl. That would make a whole lot of difference when we try to eliminate arrogant and abusive motorists from the roads to make these safer for everybody, as well as take the stand that everyone has equal rights on the road, be they a dirt-poor motorist, or a high government official. – jbespiritu