Footbridge in Cubao is dark and high-risk

This is to call the attention of Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista to put in place security measures for commuters, specifically in Cubao, one of the busiest and most crowded places in the city.

I got the chills of my life one night recently, when I saw a lady being dragged by a man from Edsa fronting Sogo Hotel up to the nearby footbridge crossing Aurora Boulevard. I saw the woman trying to free herself from the man’s grip, while he was hurling threats at her. Having come from the MRT-3 Cubao Station, which is part of my daily routine, I happened to find myself behind the pair. Sadly, people just continued walking, unmindful of the couple. As to how the two were related, I had no idea. I felt so inutile and helpless that I could not extend any help to a fellow woman who I believed was a potential victim of abuse. How unfortunate that I did not see any cop in the vicinity up to the time we went up the footbridge. Had there been a man in uniform, I would have asked for assistance on behalf of the woman. Truly, my heart died with her.

How sad that the footbridge is not well-lighted and it is very crowded with vendors selling all kinds of wares. There is supposedly a “checkpoint” at the top of the bridge, but civilians instead of policemen occupy the place.

Every night, flocks of regular passersby go up this dark and high-risk footbridge, but they are left with no choice but to pass through it to take their jeepney ride from Mercury Cubao to Pantranco, Quezon City. With the advent of the Christmas season, police visibility is all the more needed in the area. Can’t cops in civilian clothes be deployed in the vicinity? Does the city government have to wait for a crime to occur before citizens are given some protection?

The jeepneys bound for Diamond/Gateway-Pantranco should also be allowed to ply their route again. The streets fronting Gateway are well-lighted and its terminal is more accessible than the station of Mercury-Pantranco-bound jeepneys, thus the commuters are assured of their safety, and they don’t have to walk that far since they don’t have to use the footbridge links crossing Edsa and Aurora Boulevard anymore.

Quezon City, being the largest city in terms of land area, takes pride in its high, if not the highest, revenue collection. Is it too much to request for more security measures to give the city’s constituents better protection?—BELEN DOCENA-ASUELO, bdasuelo@yahoo.com