Should the impounding of motorcycles and other vehicles owned by motorists engaged in counterflowing be stopped amid a case filed by the regional Land Transportation Office (LTO-7) against Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña?
Probably the biggest argument for or against the impounding would be to see if it had reduced the incidence of counterflowing in the streets. It would be good to see if either the Cebu City government or the LTO can produce statistics and other evidence that would support their arguments.
Otherwise public sentiment would usually go for aggressive, even punitive action against motorists engaged in counterflowing in Metro Cebu’s streets. And we need not go into the ongoing feud of the mayor and LTO regional director Victor Caindec to see whether the City Hall directive is justified or not.
Granted, there may never be records or studies that can be produced by either side to support their argument to stop or continue the impounding of vehicles whose owners were caught counterflowing especially in heavy traffic.
But how many commuters and motorists do actually favor stronger action against violators? It won’t be hard to believe that there are many if a viral video of a female state prosecutor caught illegally parking were to be used as gauge.
The female prosecutor and her husband castigated traffic enforcers for merely doing their job despite her refusal to give her license that would have enabled them to issue her a citation ticket and a P200 fine for her illegal parking violation.
The rants and even threats they received online after a video of the incident went viral forced them to publicly apologize albeit with the added protection of hiding their faces behind pixilated images to avoid more public shaming.
While there are abusive traffic enforcers, there are enough law-abiding ones smart enough to video record their disputes with errant drivers who brazenly defend themselves despite being in the wrong and even threatening physical harm and legal action to those mandated to enforce traffic laws.
And when there is an order to crack down on such errant, abusive motorists, some officials including those in the LTO question the motive and challenge the legality without considering if it can actually result in more discipline and more responsibility from the riding public.
When asked for an alternative to the impounding penalty for counterflowing motorists, Councilor Joel Garganera blurted out that these violators should be fined, even if it amounted to P10,000.
But if a Manila-based female motorist can argue with traffic enforcers over a P200 fine for an illegal parking violation, what’s to stop other motorists from doing the same thing and getting away with their violations?