CAPILLAS
A LITTLE promotion: Josh Eballe, with whom I’ve worked with for a time at Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro, wrote a play entitled “Si Chris, Claire ug Merci” that will be held in two venues: A Space Cebu at the Crossroads, Banilad Road in Cebu City at 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Sept. 3 and the Artist Hall of Benedicto College in A.S. Fortuna Street, Mandaue City, at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on September 9 and 10.
“Si Chris, Claire ug Merci” is an original Cebuano three-act play directed by Troy Tumarong and produced by OurHouse Productions. For tickets, cell phone numbers are 0916 785 5136 or 0933 999 1241.
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Okay, kinda like a promo: While the debate over the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project cooled somewhat after being overtaken by news of the murder of high school student Kian Lloyd delos Santos, I join others in agreeing with Cebu Daily News columnist Jobers Bersales and Cebu Business Club President Gordon Alan Joseph’s position that equal emphasis should be given by government on driver’s education along with its road infrastructure and mass transport plans.
Specifically, both motorists and public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers should be educated and oriented not only on traffic rules but road courtesy, discipline and values so there would be fewer altercations between traffic personnel and drivers as well as cooler heads even during heavy traffic congestion.
Being a lifelong commuter — I don’t know whether I can get behind a wheel in the future and I’m unsure whether I’d want to unless the vehicle is the Tumbler or the Batmobile — I am unfamiliar with how the Land Transportation Office (LTO) or the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) accredits both PUV drivers and private motorists.
I guess they undergo driving school or some seminar before securing their licenses. Whether or not they casually insert some lessons on driver’s courtesy, I really don’t know.
What I do see along with the millions of commuters are cases, infrequent and isolated though they may be, of drivers arguing with traffic personnel
and with each other especially during rush hours.
Not a few of these incidents often make it to social media and then reported on TV, radio and the newspapers. The still-ongoing road rage case involving David Lim in Cebu City is an example.
Anyway, in light of public interest over road incidents specifically road safety, the Peace and Conflict Journalism Network or Pecojon is sponsoring a training seminar on Reporting Road Safety at The Henry Hotel in Maria Luisa Road, Banilad, Cebu City scheduled today, August 25 until Sunday, August 27.
Cebu-based journalists and out-of-towner journalists will take part in the event, and like them, I hope the participants come out of the training better equipped to handle and report stories on road safety as part of their contributions towards raising awareness on this critical issue and helping prevent road crashes and other accidents in the streets.
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It must be quite heavy and taxing on the parents of Kian Lloyd delos Santos to have to watch senators, top police officials led by PNP Chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and forensic specialists argue over the details surrounding their son’s murder during a Caloocan City police raid.
Kian’s parents naturally want immediate justice, and they cannot achieve that through committee hearings which ultimately don’t produce anything other than publicity for the committee members.
For whatever it’s worth, I hope the Senate committee hearing on Kian’s death will remind law enforcement agencies to adhere to due process and work harder to prosecute the drug suspects through solid case buildup rather than giving their police officers free rein to snuff them out under the so-called pretext of “shootouts.”
The Senate hearing also highlighted anew the proposal to equip police with body cameras not only in the wake of Kian’s case but also in the recent anti-drug operation that ended in the deaths of Ozamiz City mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, his wife and their allies that drew mostly favorable responses from the public.
But I don’t know if body cameras can be reliable given that the police can always turn them off or have footage erased and replaced with manufactured videos of their operations.
And the police can’t even buy enough body armor and bullets for their personnel to begin with. Whatever, it’s up to Congress and the Executive Department to make this proposal a reality.
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