What started as a simple road rage incident in Quezon City last October 8 later revealed something else.
It all began when the driver of a sports utility vehicle slapped the driver of another vehicle after he allegedly cut him off, leading traffic enforcers to intervene.
On video, someone from the SUV is heard saying they are driving for a Very Important Person (VIP) and it was lucky they didn’t open fire.
“VIP kami, ginanon kami. Eh, kung nabaril namin ‘yan. Delikado ang ginagawa mo pare,” that person says. It wasn’t immediately determined if that person was the same driver accused of slapping the other.
As if to underscore how important that person was, the SUV had blinkers on and had the protocol license plate number 10.
The driver of the SUV and the one accused of slapping was later revealed to be working for Transportation Undersecretary Ricky Alfonso who is also now in hot water because he wasn’t authorized to use that protocol license plate or have blinkers to warn other drivers to yield. It was also revealed that the SUV belonged to someone else.
Alfonso has yet to explain his side of the incident, specifically why he had blinkers and a protocol plate reserved only for justices of the Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan, Court of Tax Appeals, and the solicitor general under Land Transportation Office regulations, although the blinkers and license plate were noticeably gone when the vehicle was surrendered to the LTO.
It was later revealed that Alfonso is now on official leave, while his driver has been fired and also slapped with a 90-day driver’s license suspension.
This isn’t the first road rage incident, nor will it be the last. We have always cautioned people against letting their temper get the better of them on the road.
However, we suppose we should be thankful that this road rage incident did happen because it exposed someone who was abusing his authority and some hothead who doesn’t deserve to be behind the wheel is now off the road, at least temporarily.