Anarchists on the road

We have again witnessed another case of road anarchy last Wednesday when flagrantly illegal operators and drivers of motorized pedicabs, or kuliglig in local parlance, held traffic in Manila for several hours. Using their rickety contraptions called kuliglig, they blocked the whole stretch of a very busy road, Padre Burgos street.

Their protest action was to dramatize their vehement objections to an executive order issued by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim to ban kuliglig from plying their illegal operations along major roads in the city.

Worse, these belligerent protesters even used their three-wheeled contraptions as weapons to repel the policemen trying to put back order on the streets. The protest turned violent when they refused to heed the police warning for them to peacefully disperse and return the roads back to motorists and resume normal traffic.

They initially blocked the route towards Quiapo near the Manila City Hall starting 11 a.m. The group marched toward Liwasang Bonifacio at 12 noon where they staged their next round of protest action. They later proceeded to Padre Burgos St. near the Manila City Hall where they held traffic at bay for several more hours.

The protest rally caused horrendous traffic that stretched all the way to Taft Avenue, Quirino Avenue and Roxas Boulevard. It took me almost two hours to reach The STAR office in Port Area, Manila from EDSA Shangri-La in Ortigas Avenue, Mandaluyong City.

Trained anti-riot squads from the Manila Police District (MPD) fired tear gas and used water cannons to turn away the protesters and their illegal contraptions out of the road. The protesters, numbering close to 500, fought back with rocks and bottles. Both ranks of the protesters and policemen were injured in the ensuing melee. But of course, the truncheon-wielding policemen prevailed. And they must, if only to restore peace and order.

While we were watching the action on TV news, I readily procrastinated that these cops would get into trouble for human rights violations from bleeding hearts. True enough and highly predictable as they are, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) headed by chairperson Loretta Ann “Etta” Rosales entered into the picture to decry the perceived “excessive” use of force by Manila cops against the rowdy protesters.

Rosales, a three-termer Party List representative in Congress from the militant Akbayan, ordered an immediate investigation of what she termed as “police brutality” during the dispersal action. She fired off a letter to Mayor Lim to demand explanation for the violence-marred dispersal of the protesters. She was quoted as saying in a TV talk show: “You can see in the news videos that there was excessive use of force by policemen against these kuliglig drivers. It was not necessary for them to use the truncheons against the protesters.”

I beg to ask the CHR chief if she also happened to see on TV how that motley group of protesting kuliglig operators and drivers caused monstrous traffic jams in major routes in adjoining cities in Metro Manila. How about the human rights of law-abiding citizens like us who have to bear the brunt of the heavy traffic in the aftermath of that incident?

Perhaps, she was watching TV in her air-conditioned office at the CHR in Quezon City. Perhaps, she moves around with security escorts while ordinary motorists like us suffer and bear the daily traffic, especially along areas these kuliglig illegally ply their unlawful operations?

As ally of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, I could grant the CHR chief the benefit of the doubt that she is not like any other new appointees in government now enjoying the perks of their offices.

Himself, once a policeman, it is but natural for Mayor Lim to defend the actions taken by the uniformed Manila police forces to contain anarchy under their jurisdiction. Living up to his campaign “The law applies to all, or none at all,” Mayor Lim reiterated that the kuliglig will not be allowed to roam the streets of Manila because in the first place they were not even registered with the Land Transportation Office (LTO).

Hence, operators of kuliglig do not have certificates of public conveyance neither insurance coverage in case of accidents. Worse, kuliglig drivers are not holders of valid driver’s licenses and yet they operate these motorized trykes.

Manila City Hall authorities, however, encouraged the drivers to revert to the manually driven pedicab or the so-called “de-padyak” if they want to continue with their livelihood. The operations of tricycles and pedicabs are covered by LTO as well as local ordinances under the Local Government Code.

We tried to avoid that day the usual heavy traffic in Roxas Boulevard because of the first Wednesday mass at the Baclaran Church. We have given up our shorter route via Roxas Boulevard after the city government of Parañaque closed the entire road in front of the Baclaran Church. Reason: Parañaque City Mayor Florencio Bernabe gave to hawkers and vendors the entire road under the guise of Christmas tiangge that will run up to January next year.

That four-lane road used to be the bus terminal put up by Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) then headed by chairman Bayani Fernando. It was for orderly dispatching of buses plying the Baclaran to Fairview, Lagro and Novaliches routes. And since these buses have been eased out of that terminal by the enterprising city government of Parañaque, they have been hogging the rest of the Baclaran portion in Roxas Boulevard.

For sure, these tiangge stallholders were paying for their stalls to sell their wares unmolested by police anti-hawkers operatives of the police and MMDA traffic enforcers. I just wonder how much and where these monies go!

It was also on the same day the Supreme Court has issued its ruling that allowed the MMDA to continue implementing its new number-coding scheme for public utility buses operating along EDSA. The SC did not issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) sought by four bus drivers who filed a petition last week to stop the enforcement of MMDA Resolution No. 10-16.

 So while our national agencies like the MMDA and the police try to put law and order against anarchists on the roads, some of our nincompoop local officials undo everything with their bright ideas, save for Mayor Lim.