Here we are again. We think that a “one time big-time” operation against over-speeding and overloading will prevent motor vehicle accidents that had been causing the deaths of many of our innocent citizens from happening. A sustained enforcement of safety measures can perhaps have a visible effect. But along with that so many other things should be done if we are to see an end to the useless deaths of passengers and drivers of cars, SUVs, buses, trucks, etc.
One is to make local police officers accountable for not enforcing overloading rules. In the provinces, jeepneys which serve as the means of transporting people and produce are often loaded way, way beyond their intended capacity. These would be full inside of people and cargo and also the roof and the hood, not to mention those who are standing at the backend with only their bare hands holding on to the edge of the roof as a safety measure.
Such over loaded jeepneys are a common sight and they crisscross the front of the munisipyo where the usual police station is located but the police officers consider this normal and not violative of any safety measure.
Closer to the city, the jeepneys going to Baguio from nearby towns like Sablan, Tuba, Itogon are often overloaded with students hanging on the roof at the backend because there often not enough public transport to carry them to their schools.
These youths who are indeed the “hope of the nation” are highly in danger of losing life and limb due to accidents.
So whatever happened to the LTFRB’s or any government agency’s function to make sure that the people have access to sufficient land or water transportation means?
Lack of public transportation facilities is what is forcing people to risk their lives by patronizing overloaded buses and jeepneys. They often have no other choice.
Then there is the need to make sure that vehicular spare parts being bought by vehicle owners and public transport operators are not fake or are safe for the purposes they were intended. For so many such spare parts are not even good enough for a month’s use when they should last for years and years. As people commonly say, “made in China.”
In light of worldwide criticisms against products made in China, that country came up with an agency to make sure that such products conform to standards- as what many advanced countries had been doing.
That can also be done in this country. But just like any other third world place, any regulation or measure to be enforced will be a source of corruption.
So our lives will continue to be on the line as we continue to take overloaded jeepneys and buses which are running on fake or substandard spare parts that are virtually accidents waiting to happen.
Are there no other ways to stop this? There are but our officials can only think of a “one-time big-time” operation whose effect will vanish into thin air as soon as it ends.**