The recently announced reshuffle at the Department of Transportation, specifically at the Land Transportation Office, gives hope as well as some misgiving.
Hope because the transfer of former LTO chief Atty. Vigor Mendoza to head the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board is a better match for a lawyer. In the meantime, the posting of Markus Lacanilao as new LTO chairman places a very knowledgeable man on the job.
My misgivings about the reshuffle has to do with the why. Under many administrations, appointments and reshuffles done during the mid-term has always been met with doubt and suspicion.
Time and again, the move is suspected as intended for ‘fund raising’ for the next election or to generate ‘retirement funds’ for outgoing administration officials. It has happened in the past and under the current tsunami of corruption, suspicions are justified.
We should nonetheless give the appointees the benefit of the doubt and the chance to implement real changes and improve the services, particularly of the DOTr and its agencies. From recent new reports, acting DOTr Secretary Giovanni ‘Banoy’ Z. Lopez is trying to do exactly that.
Believing that the wheel that squeaks the most gets the oil, I humbly request Lopez, Lacanilao and Mendoza to consider the following observations in public roads for the sake of public safety, peace and order.
If you drive late afternoon or evening, there is a possibility that you have been misled into thinking there is a traffic light several cars ahead because of ‘Green Lanterns.’
Drivers would see a ‘green’ light ahead but wonder why the cars were not moving. Once in a while the lights would be red, but Waze or experience tells you there is no traffic light.
Drivers get disoriented while others are triggered to honk their horns so the cars ahead would go through the green light. The green lanterns are actually accessory lights on the top rear of trucks.
I don’t know if this is an actual requirement of the LTO or DOTr, but if it is, might I suggest that the lights be clear or white. This way people don’t confuse them for traffic lights.
While on the subject of trucks, the LTO and DOTr really need to outlaw or ban steel brackets for side view mirrors. Many commercial vans feature these side view mirrors and they are deadly because they extend further out.
Drivers usually tighten them in place so when it hits a rider or a pedestrian, it is certain to do serious damage if not kill someone.
I personally had to assist a young woman pre-Covid time who was hit by such and landed in the hospital with a serious head injury and was bedridden for months! All it takes is a memo to save lives.
Asec. Lacanilao might be able to do a better job with LTO law enforcement regarding Smog Man and Sonic Boom, which describe the state of old jeepneys passing Shaw Blvd., Henry Javier Rd., etc.
Jeepneys seem to have been allowed to get away with violating the law on air pollution and noise pollution. Many such vehicles now create ‘unusual levels of noise,’ enough to trigger Apple watches to warn you of risk to your hearing.
Sadly, the once vigilant LTO was tough on these as well as motorcycles and scooters installed with non-standard exhaust mufflers and head lights. Meanwhile, I regularly see riders not wearing helmets in inner roads of Metro Manila and provincial cities in Batangas.
I hope that the new LTO chief and his staff will not rely on social media videos and reports on motoring websites such as Visor to monitor traffic violations in the comfort of their offices.
While the practice of sending show-cause letters and suspending licenses were OK, people got the impression that it was because the LTO head then was a lawyer more than a law man.
Speaking of law enforcement operations, yesterday morning, Tuesday, I drove alongside two bigger than dump trucks along C-5. I assumed that such heavy laden, often overloaded trucks would stay at ground level.
But as I got closer and closer to the C-5-Ortigas flyover, I was honestly worried and scared for my safety and those around me. One regular dump truck and the two bigger than dump trucks made a beeline for the flyover.
I seriously would have avoided driving alongside them up the flyover because I was reminded of the two bridges in Isabela and Cagayan that collapsed, involving the same type of overloaded trucks.
Imagine my fright as I observed the bigger trucks crawling up the flyover, which meant that they were hauling very heavy materials or, as I said, were overloaded.
Even more frightening was the trucks lurching at the top of the flyover after using so much torque to get to the top. Imagine that on your rear-view mirror along with surround sound! What if the brakes failed?
People have long been asking, even demanding, the DPWH and the DOTr to set up weigh bridges at the entrance of EDSA and C-5. There was even a policy or rule that banned dump trucks going over flyovers.
Shall we wait for an entire family or more people to die before something is done? Probably.