EDITORIAL - "Bukong" marshals

If something has become so controversial even before it could actually fly, such as this fielding of secret marshals on board public transportation, perhaps it is the better part of discretion to just ground the whole thing.

Aside from the immediate concerns about safety to passengers arising from the fact that this hastily-assembled group of marshals may not have been properly trained and psychologically primed, there are other issues that, while less threatening, are nevertheless just as important.

For instance, this early, there are already jeepney drivers who are complaining that some of the marshals fielded are not paying fare, thus eating further into the already shrinking income of drivers now bearing the brunt of mounting costs of fuel.

To be sure, we are still trying to have this complaint verified, as it seems improbable for drivers to know who the marshals are, unless the marshals make the declaration themselves, in which case they defeat the purpose of secrecy by blowing their covers just to save on fare.

On the other hand, the improbability is only seeming, as it has been determined over time that law enforcers appear to go by a different mindset, one in which they cannot seem to fight the urge to let everybody know, whether by word or by deed, who they are.

It is not entirely improbable, for instance, that a secret marshal will actually tell a driver that he deserves to ride free because he is, well, a secret marshal. Try closing your eyes and get a mental picture of how ridiculous that is.

But that is true. And while it is ridiculous in that aspect, it is also actually painful in another, that of the driver having to contend with a free-loader in these difficult times, and not just for one day but for as long as the "marshal plan" stays in effect.

The irony is that it is difficult to really blame the marshals. What we know is that the authorities were so hot fielding the marshals in the aftermath of the uproar over a jeepney holdup in which a promising young coed was shot dead that they forgot to provide them fare.