Matulis na MMDA officer

I requested the driver to report for work at 7:15 in the morning because I have to be in Makati at 9 am. I told him we will leave at 7:30 am.

Morning came and 7:30 passed, he wasn’t here yet. My aide doesn’t know how to drive. I thought of driving by myself but looking for a parking in Salcedo Village would waste valuable time so I ran to my daughter’s room and woke her up.
“Anak, wala akong driver, can you call Uber?”
My phone doesn’t have the Uber app so my daughter used her phone.
It would take 5 minutes daw, a Mitsubishi something car and the driver is hearing impaired.

The Uber car arrived after 10 minutes. At the corner, his GPS said TURN LEFT at… He turned right. The backseat driver in me went into full gear.
“Ang sabi turn left, bakit ka pupuna sa kanan?”

When we reached the corner of EDSA, he turned left at the bus lanes. I knew what’s going to happen. I saw two MMDA officers waving at him. UBER driver stopped. Here comes the MMDA officer. I didn’t realize how rude they could be. It was as if these two guys have been waiting for someone to bully.

He accosted the driver for violating the bus lane sign. Okay lang yun, but he was bullying the driver. “Saan ka pupunta? Bakit? Saan ka Pupunta? Saan?

Actually, to be frank about this, it’s none of his business. Kesa sa Washington DC pupunta yung driver, wala na silang pakialam dun. They should stick to the issue, that the driver made a wrong turn, that instead of going to the private vehicles’ lane, he turned left on the lane reserved for public buses. Period.

The MMDA officer was waving the tickets booklet, threatening the Uber driver that he would issue him a ticket. I was really in a hurry. It was 8 am and I was worried about the heavy traffic.

I butted in, “Officer, nagkamali nga sya, so paano kami pupunta dun sa tamang lane?” I asked so that we could just move forward. Oo nga the driver made a mistake, so I was expecting these two MMDA officers to act with sincerity and just tell the driver that next time, read the signage and just let him go. But this fellow kept on saying, paulit-ulit tinatakot yung driver “MALAKI ANG BABAYARAN MO”.

Omb—–“Pasensya ka na lang kasi driver lang sya. Kawawa naman”.
MMDA Officer—-“Maawa? Sa amin hindi ka naaawa? Sya ang may violation, sa kanya ka pa naawa, kami ang kawawa”.

At PAANO NAMAN SILA NAGING KAWAWA DAHIL MERONG ISANG TSUPER NA NAGKAMALI NG LIKO?

MMDA—-“SAAN KA BA PUPUNTA? SAAN, Saan?
The driver didn’t actually know where he was going kasi he was only relying on the GPS. Ako ang sumagot.

Omb—-“Officer, pupunta kami sa Makati, Sa Spanish Embassy, kaya tikitan mo na lang para makaalis na kami”.
MMDA Officer—–“Spanish Embassy? Ahhh mag-aabroad ka. Walang kinalaman ang pag-aabroad mo sa violation nya”.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or unleash my fangs and bite his neck.

WOW, Ang talas ng dila nitong taong ito. Ganyan ba ang training ng mga MMDA officers, Maging mataray at bastos. Walang galang. Bukod sa tulis ng dila nya, ano pa kaya ang matulis sa kanya? Lagi pa manding mainit ang ulo ko ngayon. Alam mo yung mga babaing tuyot na ang mga matres, masungit! Konti na lang kukurutin ko na itong officer na ito.

My aide wanted to get off the car
BG—–“Mam, bababa ako, kakausapin ko na lang”.
Omb—-“Wag, Dyan ka lang, hayaan mo lang sila”.

I didn’t want him to get off the car and get involved because I knew it would not help in the situation. He would just end up in a fight. Either sabunutan sya nung dalawang MMDA officers or kagatin nya yung dalawa. He has a gun by the way. We don’t want to add in the road rage tragedy. Even if the MMDA officers were nakakapikon, they deserve to live in peaceful harmony with their surroundings and go home safe to their families each night.

Ang kulit nung dalawang officers, So sabi ko na lang, pwede pa tikitan nyo na lang? Parang pinatatagal pa nung officer. Dapat pag may violation, just issue a ticket tapos ang kwento. Why bully the driver?

Paulit-ulit, malaki daw ang babayaran

Omb—“Magkano ba? Magkano ba?”
Ayaw namang sabihin, basta mahal daw. Dios mio.
“Kukumpiskahin namin ang lisensya mo”. To dramatize his point, he even showed three drivers licenses that they supposedly confiscated.

Omb—–“Hindi nyo pwedeng kunin ang lisensya nya, bawal yan that’s against the law. Tikitan mo na lang”.

Tila ayaw yatang tikitan,
Omb—–“Pwede tikitan mo na para makaalis na kami”.
Naku it was 8:10 am already and we were causing traffic. The other MMDA guy hesitantly gave a ticket.

MMDA second guy—-“Oh, binabaan ko na lang ang penalty mo, mabait ka naman”.