Them Cheating Filipinos

While negotiating the twists and turns of Metro Manila the morning after a foreign head of state practically accused the Philippines of rigging the recently concluded South East Asian Games, the question hit me — are we really a nation of cheats? The natural reaction for such a heavy accusation would be one of anger, for sure. But after a little introspection, I found myself questioning our initial, albeit seemingly justified, strong disagreement with the said head of state’s assessment. I mean, come on, I will be the last person in the world to burst any of our hardworking athletes’ bubbles but there must be a reason why someone with as much guile and influence as a prime minister can literally utter out such a strong accusation.

Now, all these thoughts were racing through my head recently as I was trying to make it to The Philippine STAR one fine December day. My little adventure started as I was driving along the Shaw Boulevard flyover in Mandaluyong, which has fences to prevent jaywalkers from crossing. The car beside me suddenly screeched to a halt while trying desperately to avoid a jaywalker who so nonchalantly crossed the street the same time our vehicles were already gaining speed on the downturn. The jaywalker then climbed the fences and walked past a police officer who just so happened to be conveniently looking the other way. Here was a jaywalker who had just cheated not just death, but also the law, in broad daylight, and what were our authorities doing? Literally looking the other way! I screamed, "Jaywalker!" at the police officer, pointing at the criminal while doing so. The officer gave me a puzzled look, as if to ask, "What’s your beef?" I cursed to the high heavens, then I drove on.

By the time I had made it to EDSA, a heavy buildup near the taxi cage at the Mantrade area was beginning to take shape. The result of another cheater’s actions, perhaps? You better believe it. With around 10,000 buses converging in the area, it isn’t too hard to imagine how one driver with the brain the size of a peanut can cause so much chaos. There he was, "private vehicles stay out of the freaking yellow lane" sticker on his tail and all, forcing his bus’ fat carcass into the left-most lane, way outside the designated yellow lane (which is reserved strictly for private vehicles only) just to avoid the mess he helped create. So did this particular cheater get away with his crime? Absolutely! After all, with the cops in the area busy looking for "color coding" violators, they could care less about a swerving bus. Again, I shook my head in disgust and drove on.

I then took a right to Roxas Boulevard where a military jeep whose driver refused to wear his seatbelt drove past a bunch of traffic policemen, all of whom seem to have been enjoying their noonday sunbathing spree at the CCP intersection so much that they were blissfully ignorant of the obvious violation of the seatbelt law. The military man then nonchalantly hit the brakes as we passed by the Manila Yacht Club then used a pedestrian break in the center isle as a u-turn for his jeep. A pedestrian break, for crying out loud! With my jaw agape, and authorities again looking in every other direction save that of the violator’s, I drove further on.

By the time I hit the last big intersection on the way to The Philippine STAR office (Roxas Boulevard-Katigbak Parkway/Manila Hotel area), I realized that my experiences with all the different kinds of Filipino road users had already proven the head of state correct in his assessment. We Filipinos do cheat. Our pedestrians cheat. Our public utility drivers cheat. Our private vehicle drivers cheat. Not all of us do (and I certainly feel that our athletes are among those who stick to the rules, thank you very much), but a substantial amount certainly try to get away with circumventing what ought to be basic laws everyone is tasked to obey. And we all do this on a daily basis! Finally, as if to stamp an exclamation point into my little experiment/experience, the 27 or so policemen who man the intersection tell us drivers in unison to go screw the traffic lights and move forward even as the lights on our side of the intersection flash red. Oh yes, our law enforcers do cheat as well.

By the time I make it to The Philippine STAR, my column is done — at least in my head. The article’s title is kind of catchy — don’t you think? Unfortunately, on many levels, it’s also true. Oh the shame!

One week without a venue to vent out your frustrations and you’re all quirky. Ha! We missed writing Backseat Driver last week as much as you missed sending in your reactions and comments. Here are a few of them.

Please make a list of the worst cars of the year (for a change!). — Gerald S. Balingit (Sure. I’ll start by saying that anything that comes out of a haphazard right- to left-hand drive conversion process is at the top of my list.)

Goldliner number 10 with plate number TAW889 weaving lanes along Philcoa to Fairview. — Alfred Bretana

Hey, why didn’t you people include the Suzuki Forenza, er, Chevy Optra in your picks this year? Don’t its reliability and features inside and out impress you? — 09213049117 (As a matter of fact we are all impressed by the Optra, which is why it made it to the top of our lists when it first came out two years ago.)

Please publish a story on the best motor oil in the market with corresponding Total Base Number, including its viscosity. — 09202511548 (We’ll see what we can do though it’s tough not to a have a single vehicle to do the testing on.)

When are you going to test gasoline savers? Thanks. — 09177388592 (We’d like to but we have the same dilemma as the motor oil question above. If we don’t have a single test unit, our tests wouldn’t be reliable at all.)

The best thing our law makers can do, particularly in motoring, is to pass a law that requires the phase out of all old model vehicles. — 09214162591

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 2840 if you’re a Globe or Touch Mobile subscriber or 334 if you’re a Smart or Talk ’n Text subscriber or 2840 if you’re a Sun Cellular subscriber. Please keep your messages down to a manageable 160 characters. You may send a series of comments using the same parameters.