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Friday, March 29, 2024

Hardheads

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Matitigas ang ulo. As usual, the Tagalog translation always sounds better.

The weekend news introduced us to a variety of hardheads who can’t seem to understand that, by opposing this or that reform, they will simply be steamrollered under by the juggernaut of “change is coming!” history on the move.

The latest ones, in today’s headlines, were two jihadist gentlemen of the ISIS persuasion by the names of Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute, who ended up the newest and most prominent casualties of the AFP’s drive to finally take back Marawi. Judging from their photos, especially of Omar who seemed to have lost the entire back of his head, they weren’t so hardheaded after all.

These two gentlemen looked forward to their martyr’s reward of 72 virgins each in paradise. But they’ll probably have to settle only for 72-year-old virgins….if that.

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Also in today’s headlines will be the leaders of Piston, the federation of jeepney drivers associations, who called for a nationwide strike yesterday to protest the impending phaseout of jeepneys 15 years and older, which will be replaced by newer, cleaner, safer models.

Who could argue with “new, clean, and safe”? Apparently these guys do. They claim that the benefits of the new models will only go to the operators, not the drivers. They add that the financing schemes being offered to them are too expensive for the drivers to afford.

Well, having some background myself in finance, I can say here that there isn’t a financing problem in the world that can’t ultimately be solved if enough bright people are locked together in a room and told they can’t leave until they come up with a solution. If the room doesn’t have its own toilet, you’ll be amazed at how creative these people can become.

Having said that, though, I can cut the jeepney drivers some slack if they were having to deal with the folks at DOTr and LTFRB. These are agencies that so far have underwhelmed the public. But I’m still not giving up hope, since I’m sure that both offices also have their share of toilet-less rooms. The heads of both agencies should remember that, as with other spheroids, if you squeeze balls hard enough and long enough, the solutions will pop out.

On the other hand, the Piston leaders reportedly boasted that government’s decision to suspend classes and work yesterday showed that government was “nervous” about the strike. If they really think they can scare government into acquiescence, then there’s absolutely no reason why government shouldn’t get tough with these hardheads.

The LTFRB has the authority to suspend or cancel the PUV licenses of jeepney operators and drivers. It also has the authority to slap hefty fines on violators, which it already did to Uber. If LTFRB had the balls to do that to a foreign company like Uber, whose passengers are mostly middle-class, shouldn’t it also do the same to the Piston strikers, whose passengers being deprived of livelihood and safety are mostly poor?

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Another class of hardheads work over at the Bureau of Customs. This is an agency that has always dwelt near the cellar when it comes to public trust and approval. And after the green-lane smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of shabu last May, it’s clear that their reputation is still well deserved.

The new Customs commissioner is a straight-shooting former general, Isidro Lapeña, who replaced the damaged goods Nicanor Faeldon and company. Since coming in, he’s declared that up to 90 percent of the collectors, examiners, and section chiefs deserve to be sacked. And he’s started the ball rolling that way, by initially “floating” nearly a hundred of these scalawags.

But have the remaining employees put on sackcloth and covered themselves with ashes in public repentance? Far from it. Their labor union has let it be known that they may launch protest actions that could paralyze the bureau. They’re peeved that they weren’t “consulted” first. They’re also mad that Lapena has been bringing in people from his former agency, PDEA—an office which, by the way, Duterte regards highly enough to recently entrust his war on drugs to.

Do they question Lapeña’s authority to “float” people or bring in whoever he wants? They don’t because they can’t. And neither of course can they insist that he has a legal duty to consult with them on his decisions. None of this matters; they’re just….peeved.

I remember that one of the late President Reagan’s very first actions, back in the early eighties, was to fire every single member of the US air traffic controllers’ union who went on an illegal strike. It was a daring move that put the lives of airline passengers at risk. But he stood his ground, all the striking controllers were eventually replaced, and nobody else after that would dare to hold hostage the public’s safety and welfare.

Lives do not depend on the work being done at Customs; at most, only trade and commerce do. The malcontents in Customs are not indispensable, they are all replaceable. For them to threaten to strike, after putting in the kind of performance and living the kind of lifestyle that their new chief believes 90 percent of their senior colleagues should be dismissed for—for this, they need to be taught a lesson.

Readers can write me at gbolivar1952@yahoo.com.

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