With portions of the city currently drowning in posters featuring various faces and names, clearly, the campaign period for the upcoming May 14 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections are underway. While it is still vague what exactly these people do once in office, considering most barangays – year after year and administration after administration – continue to look shabby, there is at least one indicator to that can project just how useless an individual would be if elected.

Any individual whose poster is plastered on a jeepney or tricycle is not worthy of a single vote.

One of the primary problems city residents complain about is traffic. Among the primary violators and offenders are jeepney and tricycle operators. Swerving between lanes of traffic with no regard for others on the road; parking anywhere they please, even if it is in the middle of the road; slowing down traffic because they are on a constant lookout for potential passengers; among other inconveniences – and all of it goes ignored by officials.

Given the apathy offered by elected officials (and their appointees), these public utility operators have developed an entitlement complex, an exaggerated esteem and delusions of being above the law. They see their flagrant acts and, with no punitive response, they feel it’s their “right” to be jerks behind the wheel.

With elections just around the corner and community officials looking for support from their neighbors, the jeepney and tricycle operators are right in the mix of things, picking their candidates and making sure it is clear who they support because, if that person wins, it’s at least one entire term where they can continue to do as they please – they helped elect another official who will look away from the violations and potential accidents created by their careless maneuvers on the roads.

Supporting any official that has the backing of jeepney and tricycle operator is an approval for allowing the current chaotic road situation to remain.

While city officials want to ignore more pertinent issues and harp on the “there are too many cars on the roads” excuse (which, essentially, absolves them of any responsibility and places the onus on their constituency), there is a severe lack of organization when conducting road maintenance, traffic enforcers are much too focused on staying in the shade rather than conducting their assumed duties, and continued encouragement for jeepney and tricycle operators to do as they please since everybody in office chooses to ignore the reality on the ground.

Then again, does anything really change in this country? With new administrations at all levels over the past couple years, things seem pretty much the same (if not worse in some cases). Government offices are still a nightmare to deal with, the cost of goods continues to rise (and not just because of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion, or TRAIN Law), domestic employment is still few and far between, and (as discussed ad nauseam) traffic continues to drag down the quality of life in Bacolod City.

Most likely, nothing will change right away by shunning the candidates that jeepney and tricycle operators want in office this election. However, after a few more election cycles, after a few rounds of selecting officials who sincerely care about improving their community rather than the mere superficiality of adding a title to their name (along with acquiring a heap of government benefits), perhaps something can change in the future; and this is not about some kind of government overhaul, but, as a start, maybe a general understanding by the public on how to properly utilize a road./WDJ