Where are our traffic enforcers?
Someone quipped: ‘If you experience getting caught in a traffic jam on a daily basis, it means progress. It is just like with many cut hair in a barber shop will mean business is good in that salon’, our pilosopong Tasyo added. True but not correct. There’s a more rational perspective to traffic jams. Management. Traffic management! The questions now will cascade. Who is in charge? Where are the law enforcers? Where are the police patrol groups? Why is enforcement is 50/ 50? Why the law says tricycles are not allowed on highways and are suppose to be on tertiary roads only but even kolong kolong are unmolested by enforcers?
The three cities of Mabalacat, Angeles and San Fernando and sliced by the MacArthur Highway stretch are experiencing daily traffic gridlocks, sans Sunday. Something must be done, the motorists in silence demand concrete measures. Firstly, since no widening of the road can be done at least an asphalt overlay particularly the AngelesSan Fernando stretch. There are so many worst sections of the road. Buti pa ang mga karsada sa 1st district na sakop ni Congressman Jonjon Lazatin. Smooth sila. Many motorists like me are pissed each time we travel this stretch. Ang tanong namin. Where is government? Where are our tax money? Hanggang kailan ang aming pagtitiis?
The traffic problem is no longer a monopoly of Metropolitan Manila, but also a serious concern of every cities in the country, and even in small towns like Porac. There are close to 2,000 sand and gravel trucks passing through the two lane Angeles-Porac road. Porac I remember Councilor Mike Tapang suggested a road parallel to the mega dike.(Lalong naging grabe ang traffic on the Porac-Angeles intersection dahil sa mga ginawang concrete columns na hindi naman tinapos ang fly project). I even accompanied Tapang in the Makati office of my good friend Ramoncito Fernandez, then president of Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation and we discussed about. Remember Mike he even treated us to lunch with Chris Lizo, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO)?Too bad Fernandez was moved to another corporation by his boss Manny Pangilinan aka MVP.
It is estimated, the Philippines loses something like P5 billion a day due to the traffic gridlocks. I oftentimes said you don't have to re-invent the wheels to ease congestions. Ingenuity is not even necessary. I humbly suggest that big towns and cities an ordinance be enacted and require all establishments malls , casinos, call centers, offices and every commercial establishments to provide shuttle buses to their officers and employees. The number of shuttles is based in the ratio of each establishments's employees.
Remove all smoke belchers and penalize emission test companies which issued the clearance. Manage tricycles plying the highways. And If for some reasons law enforcers cannot get them off the primary roads, at least they should be educated on the traffic use like using the outer lanes and not running in parallel blocking other motorists. There are more to be done.just listen to motorists and the riding public.