By Ermin Garcia Jr.

 

IF there’s one message being delivered by The PUNCH through our ‘Police Reports’ column by our motorcycle-riding chief correspondent Akiham Pasion, that continue to be ignored by the PNP, LGUs and LTO – it is the fact that there is an increasing number of deaths in accidents in streets and highways involving motorcycle riders and tricycle drivers.

We are beginning to see more people suffering from serious physical injuries from these accidents occurring daily than from lighting firecrackers during New Year’s Revelry. There are more motorcycle riders (who don’t wear their helmets) and both tricycle drivers and their passengers that ended up dead from their injuries than from number of homicide and murder cases.

I’m afraid, unless and until the PNP and the local governments address the growing threats to lives and properties from reckless motorcycle and tricycle-riding, their continued indifference of will result in more loss of lives of riders, backriders and innocent pedestrians this year and every year.

Our local PNP in the province and in towns/cities cannot escape responsibility for these increasing number of accidents.  For some unknown reasons, our police do not think it’s important to strictly enforce the two basic rules that could prevent deaths and injuries: wearing of helmets by riders and backriders; and, the use of outer lanes by slow-moving motorcycles and tricycles on highways.

Could it be because many or our police personnel are already motorcycle riders and own tricycles who believe they are exempt from these rules, and enforcing these rules on others make them appear as hypocrites to their neighbors?? Paging PNP provincial director, P/Col. Jeff Fanged!

The same can be said of our local elected city/town officials from the top to the barangay level.

Based on number of motorcycles and tricycles parked in front and behind government offices, we can fairly assume there are at least 30% motorcycle riders among government personnel.  Yet, our officials could not care less if the motorcycle-riding personnel or visitors wear helmets or not, or care that the tricycles that take them to the government offices and their homes should not be in the middle of highways and roads.

Barangay officials can actually do more to save lives of their constituents by seeing to the strict enforcement of these two national rules in roads under their jurisdiction. While they cannot impose penalties from their level unless they have a valid resolution citing penalties, stopping and requiring motorcycle riders to alone to wear their helmets when moving around their barangays, will already serve as effective deterrent to habitual violators. Tricycle drivers hugging middle lanes should be stopped by tanods and direct these to move to outer lanes.

Provincial board members and local councilors can help arrest the worsening situation by passing resolutions directing the police to strictly enforce these two rules.

Drivers of vehicles, from car to trucks, can help in the effort by blowing their horns on motorcycle riders that don’t wear helmets, and on tricycle drivers who mindlessly stay in the middle of roads and highways, risking lives of their passengers, to force them stay in the outer lanes.

The bottom line? We need a police force and local government officials that see the value of imposing discipline in their communities to observe our laws.

They cannot stop homicide and murder killings but they can prevent deaths on the highways and roads.

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NO POLITICAL WILL? Back in Dagupan City, the 7 epaLifes continue to thumb their noses at Mayor Belen Fernandez and her administration at the expense of Dagupeños. Unfortunately for her constituents, she’s not responding to 7 epaLifes’ violations of the Local Government Code (LGC), thus, making it appear that there’s nothing illegal about their antics as members of the majority in the sanggunian.

Curiously, the mayor, City Legal Officer Aurora Valle and the councilors in the minority led by Minority Leader Councilor Michael Fernandez have not tired of pointing out that the outrageous conduct and moves of the opposition councilors are violative of the LGC. And, for reasons of their own, they perhaps believe that merely issuing statements to that effect resolves the situation for the Dagupeños.

No, they don’t.  Worse, when the opposition ignores their statements and protests, Mayor Belen and her allies appear as pitiful, politically weak, and absent of political will to effectively fight for what is right for the city.

Curiously, not even DILG city director Royolita Rosario has not officially reacted to the violations of the rules on governance emblazoned in their agency’s operational manual. She she has not lifted a finger even to push Mayor Belen and Councilor Fernandez to do what is right by DILG’s rules. What do the provincial director and head office say about the situation in Dagupan?

Through it all, the 7 epaLifes deserve credit for having the spunk (and the political will) to craft its own rules to serve their personal interests promoting their perverted political agenda, knowing no one who will dare to stop them.

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STOP PRIVILEGES OF COUNCILORS. Then, there’s VM Bryan Kua who doesn’t seem to know how to use the power and authority his office wields.

The integrity and image of the sanggunian is his foremost responsibility but he seems not to care about these. The members of the provincial board have shown the way how to show respect for the votes that made them earn their posts – they dress formally for their sessions.

Why can’t VM Kua enforce a formal respectable dress code in this ‘jeans generation’ when attending sessions like his predecessors did?

Then, it was understandable when attendance in regular and special sessions via virtual, digital platforms throughout the duration of the Covid pandemic was allowed. But the pandemic is long over.  Why hasn’t VM Kua stopped the practice and compelled the councilors to justify their salaries by attending sessions physically?

Private companies have since stopped the ‘work-from-home’ policy they adopted during the pandemic. It was practical and may have proved beneficial to the bosses and their employees but since the pandemic was lifted, that policy has since been lifted. Employees are now required to report to offices to do their work for which they are paid salaries.

Dagupan’s councilors should not be privileged to continue serving the city from their homes, restaurants or toilets via zoom.  Unless there’s a national law that still makes it lawful to continue to perform their duties virtually, it behooves them to show up physically in all regular and special sessions, formally dressed for their official function.

Too much informality and privileges have led many of the city councilors to be egotistic, disrespectful and arrogant.

Is VM Kua up to the challenge to show who’s boss in the organization he leads??

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