People, Red Means Stop!

When the light is red, it means stop. It is not a suggestion. It is the law!

Where Signs Are Blatantly Ignored

Along Hemady Street in New Manila, Quezon City, on the side of Robinson's Magnolia, despite signs on almost every post lining the street, motorists insist on parking where they are not supposed to. Everyday and all day, dozens of mall goers choose to park on the street despite the prohibition.

Are they trying to save on the 45 pesos parking fee? Are they just too lazy to look for a parking slot inside the car park? Or do they just get a kick out of getting away with these little misdemeanours?

This blatant disregard for the simplest of laws is quite alarming. If people can't follow in the small things, what more in the bigger things?

Rowdy, Rugby Boys

Young boys sniffing what appears to be solvents, prey on cars and jeeps that stop at the intersection of Tomas Morato and E Rodriguez Avenue in New Manila, Quezon City.They harass the passengers, rudely asking for money. And when they don't get what they want, they hurl insults and even throw stones at the vehicles when the light turns green. And this happens in plain sight of the traffic enforcers who man the intersection. Who are too busy mulcting motorists.

Shame On You, Mr. Barangay Official!

Spotted this service van of Barangay Kristong Hari, Quezon City, with plate number SKE 153, beating the red light at the intersection of Hemady Street and E. Rodriguez Avenue.

Shame on you, Mr. Barangay Official. I assume of course, that the driver was a barangay official on official business because after all, it is the property of the barangay and is not for personal use.

And to think the words "Barangay Service" are emblazoned on the van. Together with a local politician's name which only happens to have B.S. as initials.

BS indeed! The least service you can do to your barangay constituents is follow simple traffic rules!

Signs of the Times

It seems we ignore even the most blatant signs. Is it because we can't read or are we just pathological law breakers?

Bad for Tourism

I joined my daughter on her class field trip to Luneta last Friday, 7 October 2011. I was quite surprised at the number of tourists. There were busloads of students from as far as Bulacan and Laguna, pre schoolers, grade schoolers, high schoolers and even a group of college students. A few foreign tourists were also present, mostly Asians in small groups of ten or so.

The mood was colorful. Kids playfully mimicked the march of the honor guard. The horse carriages and wheeled trains took smiling guests around the park. Vendors vibrantly peddled all sorts of goods, from balloons, to hats to photography services. It was fun, it was festive.

 But there was one big eyesore: The Luneta Park Tourist Police. There were about a dozen of them. And they were all huddled in and around their outpost, chatting, texting, sleeping and even getting a massage!

We were in Luneta for more than 30 minutes. And during the entire time we were there, the tourist police never budged from their comfy corner. Man, what a life these guys have. They seem to be enjoying more than the tourists they're supposed to watch over.

Wasn't it not too long ago that the head of the Luneta Tourist Police was sacked because their outposts were not manned? Well, apparently they learned their lesson for this outpost was certainly manned. By no less than a dozen lazy bums!

This is not good for tourism.

Who he?

I was in Starbucks Tomas Morato this morning enjoying my usual grande cafe mocha when in walked a not so tall yet regal looking man surrounded by at least six burly, baron-clad men, some with bulging clutch bags, a few holding folders.

It was the senator who not too long ago was released from military detention for his coup de etat attempts.

It was not a pleasant sight. Not that the senator was pushing his weight around. He didn't have to. His entourage took care of that. By their sheer size and number.

Was this his security detail? His friends? Or his fellow co-conspirators who were expelled from the military for what they did?

I was never a fan of this senator or of the military group he represented, Though I sympathized with their cause, I never agreed with the way they took the law in their own hands. No matter what, the end does not justify the means.

And as I left the coffee shop I spotted four more security men outside. It looked very much like a war zone.

How ironic. The man who spent so many years under strict guard now moves around with his own phalanx of men.