EDITORIAL — Tax-funded escorts

Except for those who lost their entitlements, public reaction has been positive toward restrictions imposed by President Marcos on the use of vehicle sirens or wang-wang, blinkers and similar devices as well as special protocol plates.

As in other directives, laws and rules in this country, however, the devil will be in the implementation. The President may have to issue another directive to drastically restrict the use of police escorts and military bodyguards by government officials and civilian VIPs. Those who lost their warning devices and protocol plates can still employ personnel from the agencies authorized to use the sirens and blinkers.

The order restricting the use of sirens and blinkers excludes official vehicles of the Philippine National Police, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the National Bureau of Investigation, fire trucks and ambulances. There are too many government officials and even influential civilians, however, who use police escorts to part traffic for them. Even gambling lords and other wealthy, shady characters have been reported to have police escorts. Does the PNP allow this, or are the police escorts moonlighting? If they are, they don’t deserve to remain in the service.

All over the country, motorcycle cops can be seen at the head of convoys. Often, the vehicles in the convoys don’t use protocol plates; they have no license plates at all. Traffic enforcers and personnel of the Land Transportation Office should be apprehending such vehicles, but they don’t because of the police escorts.

Everyone in this country deserves equal protection by those tasked to keep the public safe. Wealthy and influential persons can afford to hire private security escorts, instead of utilizing personnel in the public payroll. Considering the homicide rate and other public safety problems in this country, the police to population ratio is inadequate. The ratio is further narrowed by the assignment of too many police and even military personnel to serve as bodyguards of a privileged few. It’s not unusual for such bodyguards to serve as private armies of the persons they are guarding.

The President’s directives on the vehicle warning devices and protocol plates are supposed to promote traffic safety and streamline vehicle registration. He must see to it that those who can’t let go of their entitlements will not find ways of going around his directives.