News Sense
Kotong
By Hilda Austria
RECENTLY, a traffic enforcer of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) was featured in the national television after gaining a video showing him selling native snacks (Turon) in the streets right after his duty hour, went trending on social media.
The reaction of the netizens were mixed. Some thought he could be using his position in MMDA to sell his products while others praised him for opting to choose a legitimate way to earn more instead of resorting to the usual illegal “kotong.”
However, even the hype on this laudable act of the traffic enforcer was not enough to stop other members of the MMDA from using their authority on the streets to motorists in forking over cash to ”fix” a minor traffic violation.
In Dagupan City, I’ve been alerted by a concerned citizen, a regular commuter, who observed how some PUJ and PUB drivers have become regular victims of some corrupt Public Order and Safety Office (POSO) traffic enforcers.
She said the enterprising enforcers use “runners” to collect the daily P20 “tong” from drivers obviously as protection from being cited for any traffic violation in his jurisdiction.
She observed, in one instance, how a driver was approached by the “runner” for his “tong” for allegedly overstaying in one corner of the street, picking up passengers outside of the designated loading and unloading area. When the driver refused to pay, pointing to other drivers who were being tolerated to commit the same violation, he was not allowed to proceed until the demanded “tong” was handed over. The other driver who was also accosted for the same violation clearly paid his tong and sped off but the driver of the commuter who refused to pay was issued a traffic ticket violation with a warning for being difficult.
She said the driver did not stop loudly complaining, until she got off, about the “tong” system in the city’s streets which he said has been going on unchecked in the city streets.
Just when I thought the “kotong days” are over with the assumption of a new leadership, comes this report.
I do hope the city government will investigate and punish those who continue to victimize the poor drivers. A strict and non-negotiable enforcement of traffic rules will not only help maintain order but eliminate the corruption in the streets.
On the other hand, I salute the traffic enforcers who are untiringly doing their job despite the heat, the rain and pollution in the streets without asking for anything more in return but are happy in the knowledge that at the end of the day they were able to contribute to the orderliness in the busy streets of the city.
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