‘Ulitan’ need not apply

Cong Corrales

I AM a little wary but I’m also excited with the announcement of Hapsay honcho Egay Uy that they are recruiting a new batch of traffic enforcers to join the Roads and Traffic Administration.

I’m a little wary because of an experience of one of our correspondents with a traffic enforcer not too long ago. The long and short of it was Lito Rulona was amazed that to see traffic enforcers manning a certain junction despite the rain pouring down on them. To capture the moment, Lito took out his camera and snapped a few frames.

However, this certain traffic enforcer, seeing Lito taking photos, suddenly became angry and shouted invectives and threats. Lito tried to explain that he was a correspondent and that the photos he took of them manning the traffic while raining was really positive.

Still this sphincter of a guy, upon hearing the word “media,” lost it and said something to the effect that now he now understands why media practitioners were getting killed. Pfft.

When I got wind of what happened to Lito, I could only snicker in derision that maybe the guy was up to something sneaky and thought Lito caught it in camera.

For a time, these traffic enforcers have also been deployed for “karate” missions, specifically at Cogon market. Methinks that whoever coined that term is partly to be blamed at the attitude of the enforcers during those missions. “Karate” missions are simply a clearing operations of roads encroached by ambulant vendors. It is a pretty simple enterprise; however, a hot head can easily lose it. There are a lot of complaints of traffic jams in almost all junctions in the city with Divisoria as the only exception. This has been a butt of joke for many saying: It shouldn’t be called Hapsay Kagay-an but Hapsay Divisoria.

Here’s my shortlist of complaints based on actual observation as a commuter.

The traffic at the junction near our editorial office in Gusa, like clock-work, would grind to a halt at about 3:00 o’clock in the afternoon. By the time a team of traffic enforcers are dispatched, a long turd of a semi has already positioned itself in the most creative way across Kagay-an’s pitiful four-lane national highway. The last I’ve heard the junctions in Bugo, Puerto, Kauswagan, Bulua, and Iponan are still within city limits. These should be manned especially during rush hours.

At night, motorists could hardly see the traffic enforcers at the junctions because their vests are not “reflectorized.” There are also some traffic enforcers whom you could not understand if he is either swatting a bee or directing traffic.

There was an instance while I was covering a session of Ian Nacaya’s committee of public safety a term ago. A traffic enforcer issued a ticket to a banana vendor for obstructing traffic.

However, even with my shortlist of pedestrian complaints, I’m still excited that RTA is recruiting a new batch of traffic enforcers. It gives me hope that maybe this batch would be stark improvement from the last.

I mean, let’s face it; there are more rude motorists than there are rude traffic enforcers. Frankly, it is a thankless job. I can just imagine each and every traffic enforcer as being trapped between a rock and a hard place–every single day. When they can untangle traffic gridlock motorists would just go about their business without even a wave of thanks to the traffic enforcer who made it happen.

Motorists would just simply mutter: It’s their job isn’t it? But when they fail and even if you see a neophyte traffic enforcer beginning to panic at a gridlock motorists would almost always add to that panic by blasting their horns.

With all those said, I am also excited when I came across their recruitment poster on social media. It starts out catchy: “Your city needs you.”

They are looking for persons who are 30 years old (the oldest); has at least 72 college units; of good moral character; in good health; at least 5’4” for male applicants and 5’2” for female applicants; pass a required drug test; no criminal record; and preferably knows how to drive.

Reading these requirements online, I couldn’t hold the urge to add the RTA should also be looking for people with a passion for genuine public service and more importantly, recruits should always have their tempers in check. To which, Atty. Uy responded by posting: “That will be checked during the interview brew.” To which I inquired: “How? Ulit-uliton lugar (ninyo)?”

So if you have the requirements the RTA wants in a traffic enforcers go ahead and apply at their offices at the City Hall compound. Again, ulitan need not apply.