By: Katherine Pearl D. Ting
Note: All of
the pictures and tweets can be found in the timeline of Willard Cheng,
including the complaints of the majority, the responds of the officials as well
the video and picture of the first spotted vehicle in San Juan.
Campaigns originate in many ways and for many reasons,
but Willard Cheng’s was quite the accidental one.
Walking along the streets of San Juan on September 23,
2012 gave Willard the opportunity of momentarily noticing a bus that belched
such a thick and black smoke, so black that he could no longer see the bus’
plate number, it was a moment that gave way for the reason of Willard’s
questioning of the implementation of traffic laws in the Metro Manila.
Not having been a really active user of Twitter before,
Willard still opted to post the picture of the bus he saw that Sunday afternoon
on that site. It was then that he received a number of complaints about other
blatant violation of traffic laws.
He knew then that there was a need for change and he
wanted it done.
Twitter
served as a useful tool for promoting his advocacy and even said, “When we saw progress in
our campaign, however little they were, we realized the power of social media
in getting instant feedback from citizens and immediately relaying this to the
concerned authorities, prompting them to move. Fast.”
He then started to call
the attention of concerned government agencies and mayors through this new
found advocacy, “Suddenly, my Twitter account became a bridge between citizens
and government officials and agencies. A number of my Twitter friends have been
telling that their tweet complaints have been ignored for the longest time
until this campaign,” Willard said.
His advocacy “primarily
targets the notorious public vehicles that would load and unload passengers anywhere
on the road, even in prohibited areas where signs are clearly posted.” It also
aims to reduce, if not remove, the “road obstructions” that contributes greatly
to the traffic congestion in Metro Manila and seeks to call the attention of
local government units about “obvious violations of traffic laws but are being
ignored by incompetent or corrupt enforcers.”
Willard views this
advocacy as something that is not only meant for the side of government but
also for the commuters, “a two-way thing. Walang titigil sa jeep o bus sa
gitna ng daan kung walang pasaherong nag-aabang sa maling lugar.”
“It saddens me too that
people cross the streets at the wrong place and time. It is worse to see
students in uniform, supposedly educated, violating this very basic traffic
rule. Nakakadismaya tuwing may hindi sumusunod sa basic rule na
kapag pula ang stoplight, tumigil ka at ‘wag tumawid. May
mga jeep at bus naman na green na
nga ang ilaw, nakatigil pa rin sa kanto naghihintay ng pasahero.”
He
refers to these law violators as “utak wangwang,” and shows hatred for their
actions, like private cars that would power their way through the traffic
congestion with their “blaring sirens” and let the other motorists suffer.
PNoy
has already ended this abused practice, “We don’t see private vehicles with
wangwang now. But the mentality remains,” Willard said. He points out that
their mentality of feeling like an exemption of traffic rules remain. “It has
to be stopped.”
This new found advocacy
then turned into a campaign which desired to instill the value of road
discipline and safety to both the people and the government agencies concerned
in the matter and because people noticed that his campaign was seemingly like a
crusade, the hashtag #krusadasakalsadawas
born.
For the two weeks that
the advocacy has been on-going, a number of officials have already responded to
these presented needs. For one Manila Mayor, Alfredo Lim, was the first to
respond, who promises to look into these complaints.
The complaints are also being
forwarded to the proper offices within the MMDA with the help of MMDA’s Yves
Gonzalez; he has also served as a means in fixing the several traffic lights in
Manila, “For that, the kakrusadas are thankful,” Willard said.
The Kakrusadas have also
been reporting about the street children and families cleaning cars during
stops even if it against the motorist’s will, DSWD Secretary, Dinky Soliman has
quickly responded to this by sending social workers in areas having this kind
of problem.
Other offices that have
contributed for the krasadas are: @MakatiTraffic, @PasigInfo and Pasig Mayor,
Bobby Eusebio, the @LTFRB_Official: which has been moving to look into
complaints against erring buses and jeepneys, and the Palace (@govph).
“There (has) been
concrete progress here and there,” Willard said in reaction to the increase of
traffic enforcers and a citing of these enforcers chastising PUV (public
utility vehicle) drivers to load and unload passengers in the appropriate and
areas for such. “Pero kulang pa.Consistent
enforcement is the key until following traffic rules becomes a habit for most,
if not all, people,” Willard added.
However, the Quezon City
Mayor, Herbert Bautista has yet to respond even though there are numerous
complaints regarding the area. Willard was able to contact the mayor’s chief of
staff through text and replied that, “he would ask his staff to work on
creating a Twitter account so that they can hear their constituents’
complaints,” and they have not heard from him since.
Willard hopes that this
new found advocacy of his will benefit everyone who uses the road: commuters
and motorists alike, for them to have more safety and experience less traffic
and road obstructions if traffic rules would be strictly and consistently enforced.
“My dream is to see
Metro Manila, if not the whole Philippines, becoming like Singapore. There, I
don’t even see a traffic enforcer on the streets because they don’t need one.
People follow the traffic laws. Kung pwede sa kanila, bakit hindi pwede sa Manila,
Quezon City at buong Metro Manila? Maganda sanang tignan na kahit gabi
at wala ng nakatingin, sumusunod lahat sa batas trapiko at titigil kung
naka-red ang stop light. I want that dream fulfilled. With everyone’s
help and cooperation, I believe this is possible,” Willard says as the
interview comes to an end.
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