Roads of perdition

Now that flooding in low lying areas in Metro Manila and other typhoon-stricken provinces in Luzon has subsided, roads are supposed to be passable already to all cars and other motor vehicles. Many of these asphalted roads, especially those in busy thoroughfares in Metro Manila, have melted away.

More than three weeks now since the onslaught of these freak flashfloods due to monsoon rains and two typhoons one after the other, the situation on the road has not gotten any better. Sadly, these craters on the roads have been causing hellish traffic in the busiest parts of Metro Manila.

Speaking from experience, this is the daily grind that we have to bear driving to and fro Roxas Boulevard all the way to Coastal Road going to Parañaque City from Port Area in Manila. Yet, we see almost every day on the road the repair crews both from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) doing patchworks.

Paging DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson, could you move faster to allow your work crews to do their repairs pronto?

We have been keeping our peace these past days while we bear and grin the resulting traffic gridlocks. We all can only take so much. Patience of many motorists, passengers and road travelers is now wearing thin.

Will it take another “road rage” crime – ala Jason Ivler and Rolito Go – to jolt the government into action? Ivler is the Fil-Am currently in jail for the killing of the son of ex-presidential chief of staff undersecretary Renato Ebarle Sr. on November 18, 2009 over a traffic argument in Quezon City.

Ivler was also charged with homicide due to reckless imprudence after his Toyota Land Cruiser crashed into an Isuzu Trooper that resulted in the death on August 8, 2004 of Nestor Ponce Jr. who was then adviser for resettlement of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Through his lawyers, Ivler posted bail but allegedly tried to flee to Malaysia by boat. But he was re-arrested in Zamboanga City. Ivler managed to evade anew authorities but was again recaptured in a bloody shootout with agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) at his mother’s house in Blue Ridge, Quezon City on January 18, 2010.

Ivler suffered gunshot wounds in his stomach that resulted to his undergoing colorectal surgery.

Ivler pleaded not guilty on all charges and is currently detained at Bicutan jail while his cases are being heard in QC courts. He is detained with other “high-profile” detainees who include the likes of ex-Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. and several clan members indicted in the so-called “Maguindanao massacre.” Incidentally, the Maguindanao massacre has turned 1,000 days old already last Sunday as the trial continues to grind slowly.

A total of 58 civilians, 32 of whom were local journalists, were killed while on a road convoy going to Maguindanao to witness the filing of certificate of candidacy of gubernatorial candidate Ismael Mangudadatu whose wife was among the casualties. Using backhoes, armed men – all believed to be under the employ of the Ampatuans – buried the bodies of the massacre victims along with their vehicles.

Anyway, Ivler’s case came to mind after the mysterious disappearance of convicted “road rage” killer Rolito Go who went missing last week from the minimum security compound of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City. As of this writing, authorities highly doubted Go’s claims that he was abducted by four men who posed as NBI agents.

Go, who has colon cancer, similarly underwent colorectal surgery like Ivler. Coincidence or what? Divine justice works in mysterious ways.

In the case of Go, he was convicted for murder of De La Salle University mechanical engineering student Eldon Maguan. Go shot 25-year old Maguan on July 2, 1991 over a traffic altercation in Wilson St. in San Juan. Still raging from a fight with his girlfriend as he boarded his car, Go drove counter-flow through the one-way street until slamming into Maguan’s car. Go alighted and confronted Maguan, then shot the victim. Maguan later succumbed to gunshot wounds.

When the news about Go’s disappearance leaked to the press last Wednesday, another road rage incident was taking place. This time it involved a motorist who mysteriously turned violent against Saturnino Fabros, a hapless traffic enforcer of the MMDA.

Robert Blair Carabuena, a high-ranking employee at the human resource department of Philip Morris Philippines, instantaneously became the most notorious road rage case. Carabuena’s blow-by-blow action on Fabros was caught on camera without him knowing it.

Stopped by Fabros after his car ran a red light at the corner at Capitol Hills Drive and Tandang Sora in Quezon City, Carabuena got out of his vehicle and assaulted the unarmed traffic constable.

In a matter of minutes, the video of his assault on Fabros went viral on social networking sites. Carabuena had to close down his own Facebook account when he was besieged with equally angry denunciations from netizens. It’s a good thing words do not maim or kill.

Aside from gaining ignominy, Carabuena faces revocation of his driver’s license as well as his police-issued permit to carry firearm outside residence, if he does have a gun. His mere assault on a person of authority should have been already a ground for the MMDA constable to arrest Carabuena right there and there.

Fabros allegedly feared that Carabuena carried a gun. MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino, who is a lawyer, should have taught his traffic enforcers, whether authorized to carry firearm or not, that they are considered persons of authority who have such power of arrest. Citizen’s arrest could also be done.

At least, we still have the legal tools we can use to avoid falling victim to fatal road rage. In the meantime, the government must work faster to repair these roads of perdition that may drive motorists into uncontrolled fits of rage.