State of the Boss on the streets

The state of the nation, while admittedly okay at the macro level, is not okay at the micro, specifically when it comes to traffic and smoke-belching issues. Last week I went to the Las Piñas branch of the Land Transportation Office to pick up my car stickers. I ended up at Window 10. Because the LTO woman was behind a glass window I had to talk aloud to her.

I asked her why I had to present again our proof of registration when we had been cleared and payment had been made, as per Official Receipt (OR). I also asked her why people were being made to suffer—I swept my hands in the direction of the long queues that had formed so that she could understand.

I told her I thought we were the bosses, so why were we being treated this way? I demanded to speak to an officer, and as I left the line, this is what happened: the people who had been standing in line and those on the benches waiting for their turn applauded!

I got my stickers simply by showing the OR, as should be. Why did I need to bring out sword and bludgeon for LTO officials to realize a simple thing that will make the lives of their bosses easier?

Last July 20, while driving my car on Edsa I was flagged down by members of the Makati Pollution Control Office. I noticed that my “apprehension” was arbitrary. Before me, they tried to stop another vehicle, but the driver just ignored them, and they did nothing. And they were not going after the buses, many of which in plain view were belching dark smoke.

The apprehending officer comes to us in the vehicle, apologizes for causing the inconvenience, but says he had to do this and that and so on. Won’t you think he was hinting for a bribe?

Why follow the law when you can easily escape sporadic enforcement? What good is the law when it penalizes only those meek enough to readily submit to law enforcement bullies? What’s the use of a good law, like the Clean Air Act, when it is enforced selectively? Good laws hereabouts have simply created and sent many little despots lurking around for a quick buck, not to maintain law and order in society.

This is the state of the Boss on the streets, thank you, President Aquino.

—WILFREDO G. VILLANUEVA,

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