Huli ka!

Here are a couple of more shots of cars cutting in at the last minute. These guys were seen doing the deed at the South Super Highway last Thursday, September 29, just right before the Bicutan exit.
I mean, these things just add to the traffic really. The effect of their actions is just the same as what the politicians do, really. It just benefits themselves and aggravates everybody else's situation.

Saw this ambulance going northbound on the Shaw underpass earlier tonight, around 6:51pm.
This guy had his blinkers and hazard lights on, but it was traffic so he wasn't going anywhere. But don't you think that if he really had an emergency, he would be weaving in and out of traffic, beeping his horn, flashing his lights and blaring his siren, trying to get to the patient to the hospital on time?

Anyway, this is outright abuse of authority and something should really be done about this.

Here's another main road converted into a parking lot, this time on Sucat Road, near Loyola. These pics were taken this morning at around 9:11am.
What makes it worse is that these guys are parked right beside the no parking signs along the road.

It makes you wonder what the enforcers are doing when the roam on their bikes and cars.

Just look at this guy, seen going westbound on Sucat Road this morning, at around 9:10am.
What's the use of bringing the helmet if he isn't going to wear it in the first place? Is his sideview mirror more important than his head?

This Green Star Express bus was seen southbound on South Super Highway at around 9:08am this morning.
Just look at the plate! You can't even recognize any of the letters or numbers on it. I mean, what if this was used for a bank robbery or a kidnapping or something?

I know this may seem small to some, but I guess it's really a matter of instilling discipline to everyone.

Anyway, with a little computer magic, ta da!
The problem is, you can't really expect traffic enforcers to have a computer on hand, can you?

Driving soutbound on EDSA last night at around 7:55pm, I saw a couple of white X-Trails driving like crazy. And one of them had a different kind of blinker inside his grill. Instead of the usual blue and red lights flashing like crazy, these were both white. Not sure if this qualifies them as regular blinkers, and as such, is illegal, or as some sorta fancy hazard lights. I guess this is something that the MMDA and the local government has to clarify so that their enforcers would know what to do when they encounter them.

Too bad I wasn't able to take a pic of it.

One of the things that really show how inconsiderate Filipino drivers are is the counterflow. The fact that the driver does not care if he blocks the cars going the other way just so that he can get ahead of everyone else is just so, so, so...well, what can i say?

Don't get me wrong. The counterflow can be an effective tool to reduce traffic if properly managed by well-trained traffic enforcers. But most of the time, it's something that the drivers initiate, which leads to more traffic.

Here's a pic that shows what I mean. This was taken at the road beside St. Paul's in Pasig, going up to Meralco Ave, last Friday, September 23, at around 7:31pm.
This is a 4-lane road so taking up one more shouldn't really have been a problem, even if it is technically illegal to do so. But these guys didn't just take up the one lane. They were straddling between two lanes going the other way, preparing to take up the fourth one in case the opportunity opens. This was further aggravated by the fact that there were cars parked on both sides of the road.

Like I always say, the song Magkaisa should really be changed to Makaisa.

This pic was taken last Thursday, September 22, at 8:15am, on Sucat Road, right before the BF Homes-McDo intersection, in front of Mon-El subdivision. Ang daming humihintong jeep!!!
Tapos, nagbababa ng pasahero e may waiting shed at babaan naman after the stop light. This is causing traffic! Delikado pa sa pasaherong bumababa kasi baka masagasaan sila! Walang sumisita na traffic aid at walang MMDA.

Sus!

These pics were taken last Wednesday, September 21, in EDSA under the SM-MRT station where buses stop to load and unload passengers.
There were a lot of buses that occupied the road and left only one lane left for the passing vehicles. May tamang babaan naman ah bakit kailangan i-occupy yung buong daan. They were even trying to cut yung vehicles passing dun sa iisang lane na lang. I asked my brother to take the pictures.

Saan yung mga MMDA? Wala kasi 9:30 p.m. na yon. Ay naku!

This van, seen northbound on EDSA last Thursday, September 22, at around 8:26pm, had a pretty obvious fake plate attached.
He must be a big fan of japanese food.

There's at least one good egg among the MMDA! Kudos to this enforcer who was seen pushing this broken down cab all by himself last Thursday, September 22, at around 8:16pm, in front of SM Megamall.
They should give this guy a reward and a promotion.

This guy should be ashamed of himself! Aside from breaking the law by not having his passenger wear a helmet, he wasn't even chivalrous enough to give his helmet to his female companion.
Anyway, the bike had a plate number of WI 6514 and was seen going northbound on EDSA last Thursday, September 22, at around 8:15pm.

This Nissan Sentra, seen last Thursday, September 22, going northbound on EDSA, probably had the most unique method of avoiding getting caught on his coding day. He actually tore off the last number of his rear plate.
Anyway, got the full plate number from his front plate, which, thankfully, was intact. It's WHT 717.

This Everest, with a conduction sticker of IA 2995, was seen going southbound on EDSA on Wednesday, September 21, at around 9:40am.
He had blinkers hidden inside his front grille flashing away (which, unfortunately, can't be seen on the shot). Also, once the vehicle passed me, he didn't even have his rear plate attached.
And to think that the government had that recently high profile crackdown on the use and abuse of blinkers just 2 or 3 weeks ago. How quickly Filipinos forget.

This MMDA enforcer was seen riding his motorbike going northbound on EDSA last Tuesday , September 20, at around 8:50pm.
Even though his helmet was right beside him, he didn't bother wearing it. How can you expect people to follow the rules when those who are supposed to be enforcing them don't follow them in the first place. Shouldn't they lead by example?

It's just too bad that the pic wasn't sharp enough to display the bike's plate number or the guy's face.

Saw this bus going northbound on South Super Highway last Tuesday, September 20, at around 6:30pm.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the name of the bus line.

Anyway, with the number of vehicles, public and private, that the team has seen on the road illegally (we suppose), just imagine how much less traffic there would be if they were taken off the road.

Saw this unfortunate accident last Monday, September 19, on Pasong Tamo-Herrera intersection.
Hopefully, nobody was hurt. However, I bet that if these guys were following the rules, then this wouldn't have happened at all.

Discovered another parking lot in Pasong Tamo, this time from the Herrera intersection going towards de la Rosa.
Anyway, a whole bunch of taxis actually park on both sides of the road, as there are a number of food stalls around this area. Although they don't really cause much traffic (I think) but the fact that there are small fences separating the sidewalks from the road indicates that no parking is allowed here at all.

If the local government or MMDA feels that these parked vehicles do not affect traffic, then maybe they should just provide the appropriate signage and lane lines to indicate such. Then they wouldn't be so much of an eyesore to the public.

I'm just wondering what blue plates are all about. If I remember correctly, the 4-digit blue plates are provided for diplomatic vehicles, while the 5-digit ones are provided to vehicles for expats of some international institutions such as ADB, WTO and the like. Here are a couple of pics taken last Monday, September 19:
Does having blue plates mean that they can ignore traffic rules and regulations? Does diplomatic immunity extend to this? I can probably understand that cars bearing the 1000 plates can be given special consideration in some circumstances, but everyone else should be treated just like everyone else, whether they be Filipinos or foreigners, expats or diplomats.

Anyway, the X-Trail on the second pic may also be in violation of the 7-day allowance for new vehicles without plates. See this post for some details.

No plates again! But this time around, it's an old truck. This truck was seen inside Ayala Alabang last Saturday, September 17.
Aren't the village security guards deputized as traffic enforcers? Considering that the security guards in this village are pretty strict, they should've stopped this guy from entering the village in the first place.

Saw this van going southbound on C5 last Saturday, September 17.
I thought that they've already suspended the provision that allows people to use new cars without plates for 7 days after delivery. At least, that's what they told me when I got my new car.

If anyone out there can give us some clarification on this, it would be highly appreciated.

Was chatting with a taxi driver late last week and he told me a very interesting tidbit about Makati's ticketing policies.

Turns out that the Makati City local government imposes a late fee for unpaid traffic violation tickets. If the fine is not paid within 72 hours of issuance, then the violator has to pay a late fee of 25 pesos per day.

Personally, I feel this is a good way to enforce discipline and to raise their revenue, although 25 pesos a day seems pretty steep. Unfortunately, it seems that the Makati City local government has forgotten to inform the violators of this particular policy, either by stating such in the ticket or requiring their enforcers to inform the violators. So, for the uninitiated, they are in for a big surprise when they finally find time to go to the municipal hall to pay for the ticket.

Although this is really just hearsay, this is something that is unacceptable. I know ignorance is not an excuse, but this only applies if the local government has made an effort to inform the general public of their policies.

Anyway, I'd appreciate if anyone can verify this. Better yet, a picture of the ticket would be great.

Filipinos have this nasty habit of using the road as an extension of the sidewalk.
This pic was taken near the Sucat Road-President's Avenue intersection in Paranaque last September 8 (sorry for the late post). I know that most people do this primarily for convenience. Either the designated loading or unloading zone is too far a walk, or the sidewalk is just too crowded with people or sidewalk vendors and their stalls and wares, or there's just too much debris from unfinished construction projects or informal garbage dumps.

But, hey, suck it up! Filipinos need to start learning to sacrifice a little convenience for the better good. Start walking (exercise is good for you, anyway), bear with the crowds, move your stalls to the proper locations, and start cleaning up properly.

This southbound bus, seen at the EDSA-Santolan intersection late last night, did not only stop to pick up passengers at the corner, but actually stopped with most of it's body blocking the intersection.
Imagine doing this right beside Camp Aguinaldo, the PNP's main headquarters, with several MMDA traffic enforcers stationed underneath the flyover. Like I've always said, unless the MMDA or local government start catching these violators and penalizing them (either through fines, jail time, suspension or revocation), they will never learn.

I've recently been made aware that there's a booklet that's been making the rounds in Metro Manila that has been dubbed as something that "every Filipino who loves his country should get hold of and read, and hopefully put the points it raises into practice, in order to help our nation." It's called Twelve (12) Little Things Every Filipino Can Do To Help Our Country by Alexander Ledesma Lacson.

The reason why I'm posting this here is because the number one rule in this booklet is quite relevant to Huli Ka!:

1. Follow traffic rules -- Why is that the most important? The answer is simple. Traffic rules are the simplest of our laws. If we learn to follow them, it will be the lowest form of national discipline that we can develop. Since it is totally without monetary cost, it should be easy for us to comply with, and therefore should provide a good start.

Hopefully, Twelve Little Things... will help the typical Metro Manilan realize that it really is simple to follow traffic rules, and that the impact of doing so will significantly improve this aspect of our lives.

I know that this issue was already raised in a previous post. But I just wanted to show this truck, seen earlier tonight northbound on EDSA, containing brand new Kawasaki motorcycles on their way, I assume, to a dealer.
And, guess what?!? They all don't have sideview mirrors!

When does something as important as the sideview mirror become a dealer option?

Isn't there a law that regulates TV monitors in vehicles? If I remember correctly, the monitors should be placed so that the driver would not be able to watch it, thus removing any distraction that may lead to accidents.
Well, despite this law, I still see several vehicles that have monitors that are in full view of the driver. Again, it's pretty clear that it's the car manufacturers, dealers and the LTO that are at fault here. I guess safety is just a lot less important than sales.

Here's another post on buses and yellow lanes. These two were seen racing northbound on EDSA last Saturday morning, even though there were hardly any vehicles on the yellow lanes.
Yeesh!

One of the most notorious bus stops on northbound EDSA is right before Ortigas. This is the main source of traffic that leads back all the way to the Rockwell flyover. And here's a perfect example of why that's so.
This bus, seen last Saturday morning, stopped to unload some passengers while straddling the third and fourth lane right before the EDSA-Ortigas flyover. He was blocking not only those who want to go up the flyover, but those who want to go on the ground-level road, as well.

Some of the time, you can see traffic enforcers just right after this point in EDSA doing nothing. Typically, they're just sitting on their big bikes, with their big shades and even bigger tummies, trying to look intimidating. Which, unfortunately, has no effect whatsoever.

Just wanted to post this image.
Huli ka!

This post is more on safety, rather than traffic.

There are tons of motorcycles on the road these days. With today's traffic and our terrible economy, it just makes sense for most people. Having a bike gives you the flexibility of having your own transport at a relatively low cost. And traffic is not really much of a problem, as they can easily zoom between the other vehicles. The problem is a lot of them don't have sideview mirrors.

Here are a couple of pics of one that I saw on EDSA last Friday night.
How in heaven's name can these guys drive safely if they don't have the proper the proper equipment to back them up? Craning their neck every now and then to check if there are vehicles coming up behind or beside them just isn't good enough. Plus, it's infinitely more dangerous to do this while driving 40, 60, 80kph down a major road.

Isn't there a law that says they ought to have them? If there isn't, then there really ought to be one. I think the responsibility here lies more on the motorcycle manufacturers and dealers. And if that's the way they go, then it's the LTO that should be the one to enforce this as they can easily implement a no-sideview-mirror-no-registration policy. Let's just not think about the fact that the LTO is one of the most graft-ridden government departments in the Philippines.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Metro Manila traffic, here's a sample of what traffic on EDSA looks like during last Friday evening's rush hour.
This typically starts from Buendia and goes on until Ortigas. Even to the untrained mind, the traffic is obviously caused by buses loading and unloading improperly, blocking traffic. Guadalupe, Pioneer, Shaw Boulevard and Ortigas, these all contribute to the tremendous traffic on EDSA.

How long will it take before the MMDA realizes this and does something about it? There's been some effort to address this problem and I'm sure these have contributed somewhat. But it's just so irritating to see buses still flaunt the law by stopping on the second or third lane to load or unload commuters while traffic enforcers stand idly by.

And, don't give me that crap about there aren't enough buses on the road. Even on rush hours, most of the buses I see aren't even half-full!

This time around, the parking lot is in Pasong Tamo, right beside Mantrade. And this one sometimes extends all the way to the Kodak compound.
Here are a couple of more views taken on another day.
These guys take out a whole lane from Pasong Tamo. Add to that the jeeps that unload commuters on the other side of the road, right across Mantrade. and you got a major congestion every rush hour.

Why don't the traffic enforcers stationed at the EDSA-Pasong Tamo intersection do anything about this?

Finally! Our first independent contribution! A big thanks to you-know-who-you-are! And we used the title just like you wanted!

Anyway, this northbound Superlines bus (no. 977 with plate number DFW-286) was seen in the morning of September 9. Well, the smoke would have probably prevented you from seeing it if you were directly behind it.
Now, isn't there an annual emmissions test that's a pre-requisite for renewal of the registration? I know a lot of friends who've failed this and have had to spend a some money just to pass this. And for the past few weeks, I've seen the MMDA stop a lot of vehicles on EDSA for some on-the-spot emmissions testing.

So, with all this, how can vehicles like this still get away with it?

For those who didn't know, the outermost lane of Ortigas Avenue across Robinson's Galleria is actually a parking lot. Whenever I pass this road, a lot of traffic is actually caused by these jeepneys and buses either parked on the side of the road, waiting for passengers, or loading and unloading. And this is done right in the face of MMDA's traffic enforcers, who are either stationed in the pedestrian crossing or at the EDSA-Ortigas intersection.

Sometimes, the number of jeeps parked reach from the waiting shed until the intersection, which really congests the traffic. Unfortunately, the pic I got earlier this evening only shows one jeepney parked.
Here's another pic from the front of the jeepney.
I hope that the MMDA realizes how much traffic this causes, and starts doing something about it.

Saw another overloaded jeepney in Sucat Road earlier this evening.
Like I mentioned before, when will the drivers, commuters and traffic enforcers learn?

Unfortunately, it seems that the website of the MMDA is down, and will be down for sometime (as the Philippine government portal does not have a listing anymore for them). However, they do have an email address listing. So for any concerns or questions regarding MMDA's regulations, you can send an email to chairman@mmda.gov.ph.

As an alternative, trapik.com provides a little bit of information. Here are a few quick links:

• Ten commandments on safety driving
• Road safety tips
• Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program/Number Coding Scheme - Although this seems pretty old. I seem to recall that San Juan already allows all private vehicles to use their roads from 10:00am to 3:00pm.

Hope this helps.

This motorcycle was seen this morning heading southbound on South Super Highway. I'm no expert, but it's pretty obvious that this bike falls way short of the 400cc minimum for using the highway.
And don't worry about his missing helmet. He's so hard-headed, he probably doesn't need one anyway.

Just imagine if a bus careens into this guy. His body'd probably reach heaven even before his soul does.

I know this isn't really related to improving discipline on the road, but I just can't help it. Passing through Dona Soledad in Better Living tonight, I noticed that the local government has vastly improved the lighting on this oh-so-important road since the last time I passed there. There must have been one new street lamp every 20m or so on both sides of the road, which is good for all pedestrians and motorists.

However, I just want to comment on two things:

1. The lights seem pretty fancy (and, in my opinion, a bit gaudy for my taste) and I just can't help wondering how much money would have been saved if they just went for the plain-jane kinda street lamps. I mean, maybe they could have used the money to paint lane lines or improve drainage or feed the hungry or clothe the poor or something. You know, something that really eases the daily burdens of his constituents.

2. What in heaven's name does JB stand for? John the Baptist? Johnny Black? Joyful Bliss? Job...well, let's skip that one. Or maybe it stands for Jun Bernabe, who just happens to be the mayor of Paranaque. My God! Such blatant advertising. Now, I would understand if he used his own money to purchase and install these lights. If this was true, then I would have no issues with him putting his name or his mug shot or even a picture of his whole clan, their household help and all their pets on the street lamps. But if this was done using the city's funds, then I don't think he has the right to do such a thing. Even if the money was donated by private individuals on his behalf (which, for some reason, is quite common here in the Philippines, don't ask me why), then, he should have insisted cutting down a bit and use the excess funds for something else. Then the townsfolk would have had so much more to thank him for, which would improve his chances for reelection, and less need to rely on such underhanded tactics.

Sometimes, I just really can't understand how the minds of these people run.

Pedestrian lanes are supposed to be for pedestrians, aren't they? Well, this tricycle driver, seen on Sucat Road near BF Homes earlier this evening, doesn't think so.
This particular pedestrian crossing is commonly used as a u-turn route by tricycles, despite the continuous presence of traffic enforcers around 500m away.

Just because they're small and more maneuverable doesn't mean that they can get away with this. One of the reasons why there are a lot of traffic laws is to ensure the safety of pedestrians and commuters. And this definitely goes against the grain.

Jeeps and buses have this nasty habit when it comes to loading and unloading. That is, they stop anywhere they damn well choose to load and unload their passengers, whether it be on the middle of road, straddling over a number of lanes, whatever.
Now this jeep was seen in Sucat Road, just after the South Super Highway exit, this morning. Although the picture doesn't seem too bad, take note that one lane of Sucat Road is blocked off for counterflow purposes every morning, leaving just two lanes for those going deeper into Paranaque. So even though this jeep wasn't totally blocking off the road, he did cause some congestion, considering the number of vehicles passing this route.

Now, why couldn't he just move his vehicle closer to the edge of the lane before stopping to take on passengers? In the first place, he shouldn't even be picking up these commuters until after the Sakayan at Babaan sign.

You can easily say that these commuters share the blame. However, since the jeepney driver can decide not to take on these people, or to park in the appropriate location and just have them catch up, I really believe it's more his responsibility. And in case he doesn't follow the rules, then it is the traffic enforcer's responsibility they do. The problem is, where are they?

P.S. Before you go off ranting about these PUV drivers, keep in mind that some private vehicles do this as well.