News reports in late December 2014 had it that Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Francis Tolentino is a possible successor to Sixto Brillantes, Jr., the outgoing chairman of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) who is due to retire in February this year along with two commissioners. Another possible contender mentioned is Secretary Leila de Lima of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Between the two contenders, de Lima seems less objectionable for the top COMELEC post. Like Chairman Brillantes, De Lima was a lawyer who specialized in election cases before joining the government. As Secretary of the DOJ, de Lima is constantly occupied with resolving legal cases. De Lima, however, is still objectionable because of her manifest partisan ties with the appointing power, President Benigno Aquino III. After all, or in theory at least, election commissioners are supposed to be impartial and non-partisan.
Tolentino has not publicly comported himself as a specialist in election law, and there is no indication if he has had any extensive experience in quasi-judicial work – the type found in the COMELEC. His past jobs as a city executive and as chairman of the MMDA do not involve quasi-judicial work, and are not enough to make him qualified, much less ideal for the top post in the Commission.
His record as mayor of Tagaytay City is nothing spectacular. During his incumbency, the tourism industry in Tagaytay City got saturated with poorly planned development projects. New commercial establishments mushroomed there, much more than the volume of tourists can patronize. The unmitigated increase in diesel-fueled public utility vehicles and smoke-emitting tricycles geometrically added to the level of air and noise pollution there. Thus, Tagaytay City became too commercialized for its own good, and is now a disappointing shadow of its old majesty.
Thanks to indiscriminate real estate development projects and the influx of squatter colonies, the cold mountain air long associated with Tagaytay City is no longer there, except for a few evenings and early mornings. The roadside view of Taal Volcano is now virtually obliterated by restaurants, inns and hotels. Today, Tagaytay City is largely seen as the playground of rich and prominent families from Metropolitan Manila. Incidentally, the access highway from Sta. Rosa in Laguna is a national, not a city project.
Tolentino’s lackluster stint at the helm of the MMDA likewise does not warrant his appointment to the COMELEC.
Late last year, an MMDA traffic enforcer and a motorist were involved in a tussle along Quezon Avenue in Quezon City. A brief video of a segment of the incident was taken by a third party. Tolentino concluded that the brief video was conclusive evidence of the innocence of his traffic enforcer. How a brief video of a mere segment (not the entirety) of the altercation, without a clear audio track, could amount to conclusive evidence was not explained by Tolentino. Later on, some motorists recognized the traffic enforcer on the television news and revealed that the enforcer had bullied them on previous occasions.
In July 2014, Tolentino welcomed the move of the Metropolitan Manila Council (the so-called policy arm of the MMDA) to increase the fine for jaywalkers from P300 to P500, and to require violators to clean an estero – a narrow waterway found in many areas of the metropolis. Because of the squatter problem and the indiscriminate water pollution in the metropolis, esteros are clogged and contain black, filthy, foul-smelling, disease-infested liquid.
Section 19, Article III of the Constitution outlaws cruel, degrading or inhuman punishment, and jurisprudence mandates that penalties must be commensurate to the offense. Although jaywalking must be penalized, the penalty requiring the violator to clean an estero is a health risk to the violator. What if the violator falls into the estero, accidentally imbibes some of the filthy liquid, and gets sick or dies as a consequence? Since physical contact with the fluid is enough to cause skin diseases, the penalty is manifestly inhuman.
Unlike for example the crime of theft, jaywalking is a victimless offense. Nonetheless, one who is convicted of theft is only given time in prison, without provision for prison labor. On the other hand, a jaywalker is required to pay a fine and to risk his health by cleaning an estero. The penalty is obviously not commensurate to the offense. Besides, can jaywalkers really clean up an estero? Local government units which have the money and the means to clean up esteros have failed in this regard. Why should the job be tossed to the jaywalker?
MMDA traffic enforcers are no longer on the roads after 7PM when no more violators of the number-coding rule can be apprehended. Unfortunately, there are many taxicabs, jeepneys and tricycles which traverse the roads at nighttime without putting on their headlights, and often at breakneck speed and in complete disregard of traffic rules. These traffic hazards needlessly put public safety at risk.
This problem can be reduced, if not eliminated, if MMDA traffic personnel are visible at road intersections at nighttime. Their ostensible presence alone makes drivers obedient to traffic regulations, and provides a visual deterrent against criminal elements.
Are all MMDA traffic personnel so occupied with daytime work that none of them can be spared for the equally important work of traffic regulation during the nocturnal hours? If it is, then Tolentino’s MMDA should be re-named the Metropolitan Manila Daytime Authority.
Next time, this column will discuss the constitutional and legal issues relating to the role of the MMDA in the Metropolitan Manila Film Festival and the possible liability of officials involved in such festivals which generate millions of pesos.