Arrogant drivers / Baguio La Trinidad coding lifted

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

BAGUIO CITY – Drivers, particularly those of public utility vehicles should be taught to respect pedestrians particularly along zebra lines.

Not only that, PUJ drivers must also be taught that ramming one’s vehicle on a pedestrian lane is not a video game where one can play with lives of people.

How often have I seen power tripping drivers, particularly those of taxis and passenger jeeps who don’t stop or brake when approaching pedestrian lanes.

One time, I saw an old lady who was nearly sideswiped by a speeding taxi along Session Road. When somebody shouted at the driver, he even had the temerity to stick the dirty finger in the air with an arrogant smile. I regret I was not able to get the plate number.

Maybe, the driver was high on shabu. I have have been told by many sources that most taxi drivers use the illegal drug to make them stay awake even if they drive nonstop day and night. The police and narcotics agents could look into this as I am told, one of the distribution areas is somewhere along Crystal Cave.

Lest we stray, there are also PUJ drivers who stop in the middle of the road to pick passengers. There are also the irresponsible, arrogant and drunk drivers who are a menace on the road.

One time, while driving around 11 p.m. at the intersection near the La Trinidad public market in Benguet, I was nearly sideswiped by a speeding pickup truck who cut me from the right lane, passed in front of me, went to the left, then disappeared on the road to Pico. If I didn’t brake hard, a collision could have occurred.

There are a lot of horror stories about these stupid drivers. Suffice to say, I read about a proposed ordinance in San Juan, Metro Manila which may catch on with other cities or towns in making the streets safer. 

Authored by Councilor Angelo Agcaoili, drivers sternly will be penalized for not stopping to let pedestrians cross the zebra lanes. Over the past decades, uncouth drivers acting like kings of the road have been endangering pedestrians, the proposed law said.

Countless walkers have been killed or maimed when hit by vehicles while crossing the street — even in designated crosswalks, under heavy rains, it noted.

Agcaoili, a lawyer, has had enough of it. His bill would compel drivers to brake even if only one person is crossing the zebra lane. Violators will be fined P1,000 for the first and P2,000 for subsequent offenses. The driver’s license will be confiscated, and one-percent interest per month shall be tacked on, until the fine is paid.

Exceptions shall only be when the pedestrian is crossing the street not at the corner or zebra lane, and when the vehicle has a go-signal from the traffic light or officer. That should caution against jaywalking as well.

However, there already is a national law to enforce pedestrian crosswalks. And as with all national legislations, it jealously disallows municipal superseding.

Presidential Decree No. 1958, issued in 1984, amends the Land Transportation and Traffic Code of 1964. Aside from its primary aim of imposing a private motor vehicle tax, PD 1958 obliges motorists to give way to pedestrians.

Chapter IV, Traffic Rules, Article III, Right of Way and Signals, Section 42(c) states: “The driver of any vehicle upon a highway within a business or residential district shall yield the right of way to a pedestrian crossing such highway within a crosswalk, except at intersections where the movement of traffic is being regulated by a peace officer or by traffic signal. Every pedestrian crossing a highway within a business or residential district, at any point other than a crosswalk, shall yield the right of way to vehicles upon the highway.”

Chapter V, Penal and Other Provisions, Article I, Penalties, Section 56(l) fines violators — reckless drivers and jaywalkers alike — P100 to P500. Section 56(m) metes commensurate imprisonment on those who cannot pay. Section 56(n) further punishes under the Revised Penal Code the driver whose ignoring of the zebra lane results in death or injury.

And the breaker: Article III, Final Provisions, Section 62: “No provincial board, city or municipal council shall enact or enforce any ordinance or resolution in conflict with the provisions of this Act, or prohibiting any deputy or agent of the (Land Transportation) Commission to enforce this Act within their respective territorial jurisdiction and the provisions of any charter to the contrary notwithstanding.”

There is need for the road culture change that Agcaoili envisions other than a new traffic ordinance.

Surely there are many other city and municipal councilors who think the same. Through their national association, they can prod their colleagues to allot funds to paint zebra lanes in their locales. They can fund reeducation of their driver-constituents in traffic rules and road courtesy, especially in basic respect for pedestrians.

They can build more jails for reckless drivers and jaywalkers. And they can pass stiff ordinances to fine drivers who wreck public facilities like sidewalks and medians, hydrants, lampposts, traffic lights and signs.

They can lobby Congress to increase the fines and penalties for traffic violations. Lobby the Land Transportation Office too to impose stricter driver’s licensing, drug and emissions checks.

They can make the LTO require all drivers to buy copies of the Land Transportation and Traffic Code and the amending PD 1958. All drivers must be tested on the provisions.

If these stupid drivers can’t still be stopped from playing their dangerous driving games, concerned citizens or groups should lobby to change police chiefs or local officials who don’t have the political will to enforce road laws to have these nincompoops arrested.

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Supt. Davy Vicente M. Limmong, chief of the Cordillera regional police information office sent an advisory saying vehicle number coding schemes in La Trinidad, Benguet and nearby Baguio City were lifted starting March 18 to April 12 for private vehicles only on occasion of the La Trinidad Strawberry Festival.

Editorial

‘No permit, no exam’ policy a violation of right to education’

The suicide of University of the Philippines Manila freshman Kristel Tejada, the  16-year-old behavioral science student who drank silver cleaning solution on March 15 at their house in Tondo, Manila  after she was reportedly forced to take a leave of absence for failing to pay tuition has put to scrutiny the pathetic state of the educational system of the country.

Some top national officials have tried to improve the system but then, for one reason or another, their endeavors have been put to waste.

One of the proponents to improve the educational system was Sen. Manuel Villar who said the “no permit, no exam policy” goes against the right to education.

 Villar said had his proposal, Senate Bill 2992 or the “Anti- No Permit, No Exam Act” been passed and made into a law, it could have restrained UP from preventing Tejada from continuing her studies due to lack of funds.

Villar said he filed SB 2992 on Oct. 11, 2011 but it was not approved during the current Congress. “We have said it before, the ‘No Permit, No Exam’ policy of some schools is not just. It is a constraint on our children’s right to education,” Villar said.

The Senate bill’s counterpart measure passed third reading in the House of Representatives on Aug. 3, 2011. His son, Las Piñas Rep. Mark Villar, is among its authors.

The proposal seeks to allow students with dues, unpaid tuition and other school fees to take the midterm or final examination. Students should not be required to secure from school authorities a permit before being allowed to take the midterm or final examination.

The proposal also prevents schools from requiring the payment, upon enrollment, of a down payment or first installment of more than 30 percent of the total amount of the tuition and other school fees for the entire semester or duration of the course.

Villar said he would ask his wife Cynthia to pursue the passage of the measure if she wins her senatorial bid this May.

Sen. Francis Escudero said he would seek an inquiry into the UP system to find out if the state-owned university has been serving its mandated purpose of providing accessible education to deserving students.

“Equal access to education is one of my advocacies. And being a product of the UP myself, I sympathize with those who are unable to afford college tuition even with subsidies provided by the state university,” Escudero said.

Sen. Loren Legarda called on state universities and colleges to review their respective policies on providing opportunities to students who want to study, but are unable to do so due to lack of financial support.

Tejada was forced to take a leave of absence because she could not pay her tuition balance of P10,000 this semester.

She had asked for a loan or installment payment and offered a promissory note. Tejada was forced to file a forced leave of absence (LOA) after UP Manila disallowed her from attending her classes.

Then on that early Friday, Tejada took her own life. As a consequence, UP president Alfredo Pascual said he  planned to revise the state university’s tuition and financial assistance scheme.

He said there is a need to revise the plan due to problems like the long application process.

Pascual said apart from the centralized process of classifying the students under the scheme, there are delays in decisions on the bracketing scheme to determine the financial capability of each scholar.  He also cited the mismatch between the indicators and the actual financial needs of the students. 

Pascual said there was need to increase the allowance for those classified under the lowest bracket. Among the proposed changes is the integration of the income information in the application to take the UP College Admission Test.

He said there is also a proposal to do home visits to verify the financial standing by random sampling, warning of a penalty for misdeclaration.

“Too late the hero” may aptly describe actions of UP officials whose resignations are being demanded by students and an outraged citizenry.

Tejada’s death may have also served another purpose -- for the citizenry to vote they May for officials particularly in the national level who are intent in making education more accessible to everyone particularly to the poor and marginalized calls.