A Metro Manila Development Authority official described the stunt and dance moves to the tune of “In My Feelings” or commonly known as “Kiki” challenge as crazy and dangerous, and asked the public to be considerate for everyone’s safety on the road.
This developed as Micha Anne Gabuten, the woman who did the “challenge” along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, offered an apology to the MMDA and told the agency she is willing to pay the penalties for her violations.
Gabuten personally visited MMDA assistant secretary and spokesperson Celine Pialago on Friday and personally apologized to what happened.
“She asked a television station [of her choice] for her to make an apology and talk to me personally,” said Pialago in a Viber message sent to members of the media late Friday afternoon.
Pialago said Gabuten will be fined P500 for jaywalking while the driver will have to pay a total of P650 for reckless driving and obstruction.
“If the driver was the one taking the video, that’s a violation of the Anti-Distracted Driving Act, but if not, then it is not covered under the ADDA,” she added.
Reports said the one who took the video of Gabuten dancing was a co-passenger who was at the backseat of the car.
The MMDA earlier asked the help of the National Bureau of Investigation to identify the woman in the video.
MMDA Task Force Special Operations chief Edison Nebrija Jr. expressed his disappointment on the incident, describing the viral stunt as crazy and dangerous.
“Personally, I am more interested in apprehending the driver because he did not only delay the traffic but also have compromised the safety of his passenger and that of the other motorists on the road,” said Nebrija.
“With this incident I just ask the public to be considerate for everyone’s safety on the road and such stunt like this Kiki challenge is not only crazy but plain dangerous,” he added.
Gabuten and her companions made the video around 11 am last August 1 along the southbound lane of EDSA-Kamuning flyover in Quezon City.
“Good thing nobody got hurt in this incident. It is unfortunate, however, that we were not able to physically apprehend the driver nor captured the incident in our non-contact apprehension,” said Nebrija.
Gabuten has taken down the video, which was posted in her Youtube account, and deactivated her other personal social media accounts after netizens expressed disappointment and anger, and bashed her.
The MMDA and the Department of Transportation made a warning recently that anyone who will caught doing the “challenge” in public may be put in jail or can be charged for violating the Anti-Distracted Driving Act with a penalty from P5,000 to P15,000.
Under the implementing rules and regulations of ADDA, drivers are prohibited from using electronic devices and mobile phones, except when the hands-free functions have been enabled. Gadgets should also be placed only on the car’s dashboard as long as these don’t exceed the four-inch height limit.
The first offense has a fine of P5,000, the second offense goes up to P10,000 while P15,000 for the third offense including suspension of the driver’s license for three months and P20,000 for the fourth offense including revocation of the driver’s license.
The MMDA made its own video and posted it on social media to warn the public about the danger of doing the challenge while the DOTr ordered the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to apprehend violators.
Police around the world have also warned drivers against performing challenge, saying they could face criminal charges.
The Kiki Challenge — which incorporates a video choreographed dance to Drake’s hit song, “In My Feelings” — went viral on social media since June as various celebrities worldwide popularized it.
The viral stunt has had people around the world getting out of moving cars and getting down low in the street to the lyrics: “Kiki, do you love me? Are you riding? Say you’ll never ever leave from beside me.”
The challenge has since gone viral with a number of international celebrities following suit like Will Smith and Ciara.
However, some videos have ended badly, with vehicles crashing into poles and people falling out of moving cars.
In Florida, one man was hit by an oncoming car while attempting the challenge.
Jaylen Norwood posted on Instagram that he originally meant to jump onto the oncoming car but slipped on a wet spot on the road.
Meanwhile, a pro–administration lawmaker on Saturday said bus companies plying the EDSA route should form a cooperative or a consortium to facilitate an orderly and well-synchronized dispatch system to put an end to what he calls the “KKB” system which he blamed for main cause of Metro Manila’s traffic congestion.
Samar Rep. Edgar Mary Sarmiento made the statement as he defines ‘KKB’ as “Kanya-Kanya, Bara-bara” which aptly describes the rowdy, undisciplined and disorderly behavior of Metro Manila’s bus and jeepney drivers.
Sarmiento said undisciplined bus drivers and unregulated loading and unloading of passengers remain the biggest contributor of traffic congestion in EDSA. This, he said, can be solved through an enhanced bus segregation scheme and an end-to-end synchronized bus dispatch system.
“It is KKB that is causing Metro Manila’s traffic mess. Kanya-kanya at bara-bara ang kanilang pagsakay at pagbaba ng mga pasahero. Madalas sabay-sabay silang nakabalagbag sa EDSA kaya’t nagkakabuhol-buhol ang daloy ng mga sasakyan. If we can put order on these buses in EDSA, we will definitely ease the flow of vehicles in this area,” Sarmiento, member for the majority bloc of the House committee on transportation said.
“You do not have to be a genius to know that buses crowding various chokepoints are the biggest cause of traffic along Edsa. If you check these buses, only a few are really full and the rest would linger on these chokepoints to get more passengers. It’s these rowdy buses that are the problem and not our single drivers,“ Sarmiento said.
He said what should be done is for the government to assert control on the flow of buses and to facilitate smooth transition of buses from the point of dispatch to the loading and unloading points.
And to ensure that all bus companies will have equal share on the pool of buses that will be included in the program, Sarmiento said it would be best if they organize themselves into a cooperative or a consortium which would form part of a single bus fleet.
Sarmiento said that there is still a need design EDSA’s bus stops to allow intermobility on other modes of transportation. He said that loading and unloading zones should have easy access to MRT stations and tricycle and jeepney terminals.
“These dispatch system will not succeed if there is no interconnection with our MRT stations and terminals for jeepneys, tricycles and pedicabs. If we can sync all these modes of transport, you will not need to ban singles on EDSA just to ease traffic. More people would definitely opt taking the bus instead of driving their cars if we can have an efficient public transport system. Intermobility is the solution to solve Metro Manila’s traffic problem,” Sarmiento said.
