Leading an agency of the government could turn officials into petty bureaucrats. The small territory makes them feel so arrogant and powerful so much so that at every turn they would wish to exercise power, no matter how gross.
Yet plain political power in political governance does not mean divesting 200,000 people of their chance to lead a comfortable life, nor does it mean making the government lose the chance to make money.
This is what the LTFRB has done when it suspended the business of a car rental company. It stopped its operations just because it has continued accepting registration of cars.
Moreover, it states that some of the company's drivers have encountered accidents in the streets.
The reasons for denial are flimsy; the need to curb LTFRB powers is highly important.
In the first place, LTFRB, due to lack of a creative managerial imagination is imposing a ruling that is making 200000 car riders suffer from having a good transport to their destination at this time when mass transport is a far-flung ideal. It disregards the convenience, the comfort and the safety of passengers some of whom could also be riding due to some emergency reasons. (My granddaughter always takes an Uber. )
Also, the participation of the Senate to solve the problem is being done away with by the LTFRB making it an agency posing itself as higher than that Constitutional body.
Though road accidents of any kind could occur in the streets, singling out the car rental company is a bit shortsighted. In the first place, the driver of the car could always carry the burden of taking care of the costs that could be incurred due to reckless driving. Secondly, the importance of good transport system is already being discussed on a daily basis yet LTFRB has not come up with any reasonable proposal and in fact has put up itself as a blockade to any sane system of transportation.
The Senate has proposed imposing a fine of P5M to the company; now what is wrong with that? The LTFRB does not care! What P5M down the drain? Sick, sick, sick indeed. While high school students are having a hard time making their projects at school, due to low budgets, here is a government agency that can afford to turn away from an opportunity for our government to make money.
Registering cars under the car rental company could just be that -- the LTFRB could have told the company to not allow the cars to go out into the streets while rules are being remade or made up. But what is this, the LTFRB needs a month to decide what rules to put up? That means the 200000 car riders have to feel pain for a month just so the petty bureaucrats would move their a___ to write down rules? My dear Folks, this is too much power for a small agency.
LTFRB has a lot to look out for instead of crippling the car rental company. It should run after jeepney drivers who drive hellishly through Aurora Boulevard and other streets. It should standardize foot entries to the jeepney so that it would not be like going through cavalry having to ride it. As it is, many jeepneys have more than a foot high, even as high as one foot and a half in its entry point making it highly burdensome for pregnant women, disabled and senior citizens. Most of all, it should teach the drivers that jeepney, taxis, bus and transports are partnership businesses: the riders give the drivers good income and therefore, we deserve good and safe driving that will make use reach our destinations comfortably, all in one piece.
It should also open Ayala Avenue to load and unload passengers at all the stops after 9 am and until 4 pm. As it is the loading and unloading points there are more than 100 meters apart. That means, when we get off at one stop, the next for getting on would be in the next block which is too far to negotiate. The streets of Ayala are too far apart. If the weather is bad, walking from one block to another would mean getting all wet and walking unsafely through slippery cemented pavements.
Hay naku, ano ba yan?! Help, is this a dictatorial agency in our midst? To be a dictator is to show that one's options for change are very limited.
It's time for President Duterte to tame his underlings.
No comments:
Post a Comment