It takes more than the present law

Despite the numerous and much-published campaigns by the government to rid our streets of illegal or colorum buses and seemingly with success based on the reported overcrowded impounding areas, it appears that some kind of recycling is going on as many still manage to get back into the stream, especially those plying the EDSA route, perennially contributing to traffic gridlock aside from having drivers who are role models for the undisciplined.

Several studies have reportedly shown that one of the major causes of the almost daily bumper-to-bumper traffic situation in the metro’s main thoroughfare is the unfortunate combination of having too many vehicles running on the same road that’s too narrow to accommodate the number of vehicles.

EDSA was the “circumferential road” designed for Metro Manila more than half a century ago. And widening it to what’s appropriate to the vehicle population that presently use it is close to impossible. Many are of the opinion that the best option to achieve such an objective is to build a road over EDSA, like what has been done in many parts of Thailand. We should build another EDSA over EDSA. This can be very expensive and could be achieved with a lot of motorists’ inconvenience for at least 3 to 4 years—but very doable and could be the best solution to the problem of having a passageway that’s too narrow for the number vehicles using it.    

Increasing the capacity of EDSA is the long-term but difficult solution compared to another option, which may seem “stop-gap” but can be a very effective “first aid” to solve the problem of overcrowding—and this is the lessening of the vehicles that use EDSA.

When one thinks of lessening the vehicles using EDSA, the first candidates would be the buses. This is simply because one sees them aggressively plying their routes against all other bus drivers that are likewise “half filled” or “half empty,”—whichever, but simply means that there are too many of them for the number of passengers that use them. And that’s outright wasting a lot of precious fuel and spewing a lot of carbon dioxide into the air—and worse unnecessarily contributing to the number of vehicles using EDSA.           

The traffic authorities were convinced that the presence of too many buses was one of the major causes of the unforgiving traffic situation in EDSA especially after an actual headcount was made, which reportedly showed that there were a lot more buses plying EDSA than EDSA should have, as past studies have shown. And to top it all, a lot of these buses are without franchises or out of line—therefore illegal or colorum. 

And the rest is history. One campaign against colorums was held one after another only to see these illegal buses slyly getting back to plying their routes. A miniscule fine is paid and though under suspension these buses can easily get back into the groove either by stealth or by the mere “looking the other way” by unscrupulous traffic enforcers. 

We have been digging deeper into the problem to answer to the numerous complaints and inquiries by motorists through this column and our TV show Motoring Today who have been grudgingly trying to endure the daily hassles of bumper-to-bumper traffic in EDSA. And several weeks back I had an on cam “one-on-one interview” with the recently resigned LTFRB (Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board) chairman, Atty. Jaime Jacob (as of this writing his resignation has not been acted upon by the President). The interview was for another topic but the issue of colorum vehicles was irresistible for me considering that our guest represented the government agency that regulates public utility vehicles including public buses. The specific answer of the LTFRB Chairman was a disturbing reality. 

As I understand Chairman Jacob the law against colorums or illegal vehicles is innately defective making his agency, the LTFRB ineffective in combating this malpractice. To begin with, according to the gentleman, the task to run after these illegal vehicles is assigned to several agencies like the PNP, the LTO, etc. aside from the LTFRB. There is no specific agency cited by the law that should solely run after these lawbreakers. And as far as the LTFRB is concerned, it does not have the specifically assigned budget for this endeavor to procure devices or hire enough personnel to implement the law. Add to this is the very small fine that the erring bus operators pay for the violation as dictated by law. But ironically, despite the situation cited, blame for the perennial existence of colorums on our streets is always on the shoulder of the LTFRB.

Having heard that from the gentleman that runs the lead agency that regulates PUVs including buses, in which ranks can be found the most number of colorum vehicles, makes me wonder if EDSA would ever have a ideal traffic flow like that we see every Good Friday.     

So, are colorum vehicles here to stay? It appears that it’ll take more than the present law.

Unexpected win

It took me awhile to decide to write something about the recent award that our Sunshine TV team won in the recent “True North Drive and Write” competition that Columbian Autocar Corporation (CAC) put together among the motoring journalists that were invited to Batanes to test drive their wide array of remarkable Kia vehicles available in the country today. I find the story so inspiring that I hope you wouldn’t find this article as self-indulging. 

I have written a lot about the coup of sorts that CAC has staged among automobile manufacturers and importers that are known to organize test drives for the motoring media to the different exotic destinations in the Philippines. It was indeed a test drive par excellence, first, considering the destination itself as Batanes has always been an aspiration for many due to its far-flung location especially for Metro Manilans and those from the South of the country and the awe-inspiring sights that it offers and second, because of the nightmarish logistics involve in organizing such a test drive.     

But after the frenzy of imbibing the beautiful sights of Batanes, which can make one feel “to see and can die after” the invited motoring journalists still had something to look forward to—knowing who won in the competition that challenged them to take the most beautiful shots of its different tourist destinations together with a Kia vehicle with an essay that would best describe the islands of Batanes and of the event itself.  

During the briefing made about the competition, all of us from the STV team were listening to almost everything that was alien to us, considering that we were all TV-oriented and as such more of videographers than photographers. I humbly declared the distinction between the two to our photography guru that was briefing us, Mark Floro, much sought-after commercial photographer who’s been behind the camera of a lot of excellent photos that you see in numerous print ads of top-notch products. With all due respect to my peers in television, I have always considered videographers as writers while photographers as poets—“writers are made, poets are born.” And the competition being half requiring photography skills and the other half of journalistic talent, our team had conceded half of the contest. But Mark was adamant that shooting from the heart stands a good chance against a very technical approach. Just concentrate on what’s on your frame and the message you want to convey, point and shoot.

And “point and shoot” we did with “point and shoot” cameras and relied on the basics of chronicling with a video camera, which is to have a reason for the existence of anything that’s within your frame. This time however, we were using still cameras. We just did our professional best without the thought that we’re doing it to compete and winning was a prospect far from our minds.   

To cut a long story short, the STV team won the top award. And we can best attribute the feat largely to the encouraging and inspiring words of the photography guru, the great Mark Floro. And with all due respect to the other competitors, to our fellow motoring journalists who possess all the skills to win it, “Swerte lang friends.”

Happy Motoring!!!

For comments email motoringtoday-star@stv.com.ph.