LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: Your word, LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens…” (Psalm 119:89, the Holy Bible).
SORRY CYCLE OF VEHICULAR MISHAPS IN RP: And so, once more, after a vehicular accident where four people were killed and scores were injured the other day in a spot between Quezon City and Caloocan City, we saw Chairman Winston Ginez of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) predictably frothing in the mouth and displaying rage against the driver responsible for the mishap, and against the company that owned the bus.
In an announcement covered by invited media, Ginez suspended (yet again!) the operation of the bus company whose vehicle figured in the accident, and announced that there would be stricter implementation of transport laws and regulation in the days to come—things which he also did in past accidents.
Of course, Ginez would be hugging the limelight once again in the next several days, and then vanish yet one more time into oblivion, until the next accident occurs again and claim the lives of more people, and make more people physically scarred and disabled! This is the sorry cycle of accidents that had been happening, and which is bound to happen over and over again.
PNOY, LAWMAKERS TO BLAME IN ROAD ACCIDENTS: I say we should blame, and rightfully so, Ginez and his colleagues at the LTFRB for that accident, because it is their incompetence and ineptness which have made deadly vehicular accidents possible, not only in urban centers like Metro Manila, but even in far-flung and remote parts of the country.
But then, others must clearly take the blame, too: President Aquino, for failing, in the five years that he had been in power, to work for the revision of laws dealing with vehicular accidents, which are now archaic and inappropriate in the 21st century.
Then congressmen and senators must be blamed likewise, for not finding the interest to draft new legislation to make existing laws on deaths arising from vehicular accidents more fearsome. As it is, even when a wayward driver kills anywhere between one to 100 people, he doesn’t go to jail, because the penalty for his having killed people, which is only four years imprisonment, is probationable.
WE MUST CHANGE MINDSET OF DRIVERS: A vocal broadcaster from ABS CBN sounded an alarm in his program Thursday morning, asking people to be wary about government officials pushing for the adoption of technological devices allegedly as a way of checking reckless driving and over-speeding which, of course, would yield millions in profits to the proponents. I agree technological instruments are not the solution.
I believe that the only way to ensure safe driving or vehicle operation is to start changing the mindset of drivers. Right now, it is clear that drivers, once they get themselves behind the steering wheels of their cars or vehicles, inexplicably morph into rouge and almost criminally-minded-devil-may-care persons, without due regard for the safety not only of their passengers but of pedestrians on the road.
How do we change the mindset of drivers and instill in them real discipline? This is a big question, but we can start by requiring them, at least for a certain number of days once a year, to undergo spiritual counseling from government-accredited priests (if they are Catholics) or pastors or ministers or imams (if they are from other religious groups). A God-fearing and loving driver is indeed a safe driver!
PLEASE LISTEN: “Ang Tanging Daan” (The Sole Way), a Bible study and prayer session on radio, airs Mondays to Fridays, 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., at DWAD 1098 kHz on the AM band. For replays, go to www.facebook.com/angtangingdaan or www.facebook.com/ANDKNK and scroll for “Ang Tanging Daan” broadcasts. Phone: 0922 833 43 96, 0918 574 0193, 0917 984 24 68. Email: batasmauricio@yahoo.com.
