‘Monsters on wheels’

THERE’S AN inexplicable rash of incidents involving people who break traffic rules and then have the gall to wreak mayhem on those who take them to task. Or maybe not too inexplicable: It can’t be just the heat and the terrible traffic setting off hair-trigger tempers. More to the point, many perpetrators of murderous behavior, whether in the streets or elsewhere, have gotten away with not even a slap on the wrist.

The truly aggravating thing is that it is the law-abiding who suffer at the irrational hands of those who believe themselves above the law. Even—no, especially—when they are caught in the act.

Consider the case of the driver of an SUV going the wrong way on a one-way street in Quezon City on April 29. As reported, Denmark Presto, 22, was driving his employer Scott Ian Yu in a Montero when they were flagged down by traffic enforcers Simplicio Retirado and Raul Mercado. When he pulled over, Presto shoved his door open, hitting Retirado, and then struck the latter on the nape with his gun. With Retirado running for cover behind the vehicle, Presto leveled the gun at Mercado and proceeded to kick him. Yu then alighted from the vehicle, also with a drawn gun. They shortly got back into the vehicle and sped away.

A shocking scene, but modern technology has proved the damnable duo’s undoing. The incident was caught on a security camera and the video soon turned viral. Now notorious on the Internet and facing charges of grave threats and direct assault upon persons of authority, Presto has turned himself in, tail tucked firmly between his legs, mouthing words of contrition. He said his employer also wanted to turn himself in, but was too ashamed to do so. What in blazes was that all about?

Traffic enforcers, regardless of age (Retirado was reported as 60), have particularly been at the receiving end of such vicious motorist behavior. It is fortunate that the widespread use of CCTV cameras and the speed and reach of the Internet are serving as a countervailing factor.

Last November, Joseph Russel Ingco punched traffic enforcer Jorbe Adriatico, thus breaking his nose, after flashing him the dirty finger. Adriatico’s “crime”?

Attempting to capture Ingco on video as he was about to make an illegal left turn on Araneta Avenue in his Maserati. Just a month earlier on Edsa, two traffic enforcers were attacked by an intoxicated lawyer driving a BMW.

It gets worse. Last December, traffic enforcer Sonny Acosta died due to injuries suffered when he was dragged down Edsa by Mark Ian Libunao’s Sportivo. As reported, Acosta had approached Libunao’s vehicle because it was parked in the provincial bus lane. When Acosta demanded Libunao’s license, the latter closed his window, trapping the enforcer’s hand, and then drove off. The badly injured Acosta was later found by his colleagues; he died a few days later as a result of brain injuries. Libunao has disclaimed responsibility.

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chair Francis Tolentino has bewailed the “pattern of wanton disregard for traffic laws and persons in authority… [which] should be halted collectively by our society.”

In the wake of the incident involving the Maserati, Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo filed a bill seeking to impose stiffer penalties on what he called “monsters on wheels.” The lawmaker had also asked that Ingco be permanently divested of his driver’s license, saying that this could “serve as a lesson for hot-tempered motorists to refrain from … venting their ire on traffic enforcers.”

These motorists driving fancy cars and wielding, if not an actual firearm, then a sense of being above the law, approximates the behavior of the infamous Rolito Go, who was eventually tried and convicted of shooting a 25-year-old dead and sentenced to life imprisonment. Remember that the victim, Eldon Maguan, was actually driving the right way down that street in San Juan and Go was effectively on a counterflow. That he was wrong did not stop Go from shooting Maguan in the head.

It seems that Go’s life sentence has not proved to be a deterrent. These incidents continue to occur, spurred by a deadly mix: too many guns, and a dangerous sense of entitlement. It’s a sure recipe for disaster.