Long lines of commuters at every station of the Metro Rail Transit along Edsa, the country’s major highway, is a familiar sight. Every now and then, taxi cabs plying the route have a sign pasted on the back windshield: Wanted drivers.
But the most familiar sight on Edsa are private cars carrying only one passenger or just the driver alone without any passenger. The daily breakdown of the MRT might be too fat fetched to hope for. But banning the single-car occupant during the peak traffic hours from 7 to 10 am and 6 to 9 pm might be the answer to easing traffic on Edsa.
Some 3,000 violators of the MMDA dry run of the ban last Wednesday were stopped and warned that the next apprehension would include a stiff fine and suspension of driver’s license. The suspension or confiscation of license is the hard part. Drivers and car owners know how difficult it is to retrieve or get a new license at the Land Transportation Office.
The MMDA rule on Edsa could give rise to a Wanted: Passenger recruitment call.
The High Occupancy Vehicle or HOV only rule is nothing new. It is being done in major cities and roads in the United States to ease traffic during rush hours. In some instances, traffic regulators implement a special fast lane for HOVs.
Carpooling and ride-sharing are idea whose time have come in the Philippines. If done through community associations or families living in the same community, two or three passengers can be accommodated if they are going in the same direction of schools or places of work. My niece with three of her daughters have been doing it even before the ban on single passenger was thought of by the MMDA.
Not only does it save them money from the continuing rise of gasoline and diesel prices at the pump. Together as passengers and talking is a good time as any for bonding to while away the boredom of being stuck in traffic. But a family occupied car stuck in traffic was seen with three of its young occupants texting and watching video games. Welcome to the world of IT and mobile phones. So much for family bonding.
President ready to step down?
Saying he’s tired of corruption in government, President Rodrigo Duterte said he was ready to step down before the end of his term in 2022.
Oh, really now? This isn’t the first time Mr. Duterte said he would shorten his term. But in his announcement last Wednesday, the same day the Senate and the House were conducting a hearing on the multi-million peso conflict of interest in the placement of Department of Tourism ads by former DoT secretary Wanda Tulfo Teo to the radio-TV program of her brothers Ben and Erwin Tulfo. In the House, an inquiry into the billions of pesos of smuggled shabu shipment was being held.
These scandalous issues must have set off the President’s “I’ll resign because I’m fed up with government corruption. “
But Mr. Duterte set a condition that he would only relinquish the reins of government to former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. or Senator Francis Escudero because Vice President Leni Robredo is unfit to be President.
In case Mr. Duterte has forgotten his law that he studied in San Beda College, the Constitution provides that the vice president elected by the people is the only one who could succeed to the presidency in the event of death or resignation of the incumbent president due to his physical incapacity to continue in office. The law is clear on this. To allow Mr. Duterte to choose his preferred successor is a circumvention of the Constitution.
There are rumors and speculations President Duterte is gravely sick. No one really knows about his real physical condition, except probably his close friend and Special Presidential Assistant Christopher “Bong” Go.
Can the Senate summon Bong Go and compel him under oath to disclose the true state of the President’s health? The people have a right to know. If the President’s doctors can issue a certificate attesting to his clean bill of health, well and good. The millions of Filipinos who voted him to office will be glad President Duterte can continue his war on illegal drugs and campaign against government corruption.
t along Edsa, the country’s major highway, is a familiar sight. Every now and then, taxi cabs plying the route have a sign pasted on the back windshield: Wanted drivers.
But the most familiar sight on Edsa are private cars carrying only one passenger or just the driver alone without any passenger. The daily breakdown of the MRT might be too fat fetched to hope for. But banning the single-car occupant during the peak traffic hours from 7 to 10 am and 6 to 9 pm might be the answer to easing traffic on Edsa.
Some 3,000 violators of the MMDA dry run of the ban last Wednesday were stopped and warned that the next apprehension would include a stiff fine and suspension of driver’s license. The suspension or confiscation of license is the hard part. Drivers and car owners know how difficult it is to retrieve or get a new license at the Land Transportation Office.
The MMDA rule on Edsa could give rise to a Wanted: Passenger recruitment call.
The High Occupancy Vehicle or HOV only rule is nothing new. It is being done in major cities and roads in the United States to ease traffic during rush hours. In some instances, traffic regulators implement a special fast lane for HOVs.
Carpooling and ride-sharing are idea whose time have come in the Philippines. If done through community associations or families living in the same community, two or three passengers can be accommodated if they are going in the same direction of schools or places of work. My niece with three of her daughters have been doing it even before the ban on single passenger was thought of by the MMDA.
Not only does it save them money from the continuing rise of gasoline and diesel prices at the pump. Together as passengers and talking is a good time as any for bonding to while away the boredom of being stuck in traffic. But a family occupied car stuck in traffic was seen with three of its young occupants texting and watching video games. Welcome to the world of IT and mobile phones. So much for family bonding.
President ready to step down?
Saying he’s tired of corruption in government, President Rodrigo Duterte said he was ready to step down before the end of his term in 2022.
Oh, really now? This isn’t the first time Mr. Duterte said he would shorten his term. But in his announcement last Wednesday, the same day the Senate and the House were conducting a hearing on the multi-million peso conflict of interest in the placement of Department of Tourism ads by former DoT secretary Wanda Tulfo Teo to the radio-TV program of her brothers Ben and Erwin Tulfo. In the House, an inquiry into the billions of pesos of smuggled shabu shipment was being held.
These scandalous issues must have set off the President’s “I’ll resign because I’m fed up with government corruption. “
But Mr. Duterte set a condition that he would only relinquish the reins of government to former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. or Senator Francis Escudero because Vice President Leni Robredo is unfit to be President.
In case Mr. Duterte has forgotten his law that he studied in San Beda College, the Constitution provides that the vice president elected by the people is the only one who could succeed to the presidency in the event of death or resignation of the incumbent president due to his physical incapacity to continue in office. The law is clear on this. To allow Mr. Duterte to choose his preferred successor is a circumvention of the Constitution.
There are rumors and speculations President Duterte is gravely sick. No one really knows about his real physical condition, except probably his close friend and Special Presidential Assistant Christopher “Bong” Go.
Can the Senate summon Bong Go and compel him under oath to disclose the true state of the President’s health? The people have a right to know. If the President’s doctors can issue a certificate attesting to his clean bill of health, well and good. The millions of Filipinos who voted him to office will be glad President Duterte can continue his war on illegal drugs and campaign against government corruption.
