Fr. Bel San Luis January 22 Manila Bulletin column: Was bus franchise cancellation fair? by Fr. Bel R. San Luis, SVD January 21, 2014 Share this: The cancellation of the seven franchises of Don Mariano Transit Corporation is a big blow to the bus company. Somebody quipped, “Poor company, it’s no longer Don Mariano but MANG Mariano Transit Corporation!” * * * With hundreds of employees, mostly drivers and conductors, rendered jobless, how will they feed their families now? Why penalize all of the personnel when the fault of one or two is not the fault of everybody! That’s against the principle of logic. In these times of economic hardships, taking away their livelihood is tantamount to punishing their families or letting them go hungry. Further, this aggravates the country’s unemployment problem. * * * Frankly, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is not without blame because they did not monitor closely and regularly the Don Mariano Transit buses, even when accidents and some violations happened earlier. After the speeding Don Mariano bus had jumped over the skyway hitting a van underneath, the LTFRB officers were afterwards pictured inspecting the bus tires, lights, and engines. But why the strictness after a major accident had happened? It’s a reactive response instead of proactive. * * * Moreover, the Land Transportation Board imposed the franchise cancellation that’s disproportionate to the violations committed to appease the aggrieved victims, relatives of the fatalities, and the indignant public. By sending away hundreds of employees to the streets jobless, what LTFRB has done is throwing the bathwater away–together with the baby! * * * Talking about “reactive response instead of proactive,” remember the fatal shooting of Mayor Ukol Talumpa and his wife Lea of Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur when they were coming out of Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3? It’s strange that there were no police officers and enough security guards at that time! What added insult to injury was the CCTV at the entrance was not working. * * * It’s only after the shooting that police officers were posted and the CCTV replaced or repaired. We react only after the tragedy has occurred. * * * BY THE WAY…the series of killings and violence has caused bad publicity abroad. The sister of a priest who was coming home from the USA had asked for security escort from a relative working in a local government agency. She also gave instruction that she ride in the car of her priest brother, thinking it’s safer when he’s driving. * * * The apprehension of that lady may be very exaggerated but it shows how bad our country’s image is due to the numerous news of killings, hold-ups, and robberies. Indeed, there’s so much of those scary crimes nowadays. But our local media can contribute a lot to remedy our image problem. * * * ST. JUDE. Tomorrow, Thursday, join us at the Divine Word Shrine, Christ the King Seminary on E. Rodriguez Boulevard, Quezon City after the 6 p.m. Mass.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 03:18:45 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015