COULD THE DENGVAXIA TRAGEDY HAVE BEEN AVOIDED?:

What might have been had Noynoy Aquino been Impeached in 2015.

Back in 2015, nobody knew of the human drama and tragedy that was about to unfold involving some 800,000 school children and their families and of the waste of some 3.5 Billion pesos worth of taxpayer’s money.  I am of course, referring to the Dengvaxia controversy.

(Source:  CNN Philippines)

Well documented are the meetings President Aquino and his Cabinet secretaries had with Sanofi, makers of the vaccine.  It is also clear as day that regardless of the merits of the Dengvaxia vaccine, its procurement was railroaded and implemented in record time.  The whole purchase reeks of irregularity and of an administration drunk with impunity.

The timeline for this purchase was around November 2014, when the first meeting between President Aquino and Sanofi executives took place in China. Within the year, Sanofi arranged to have the drug included in the Philippine National Formulary even if it had not undergone sufficient testing.  Then, in a blitz on December 2015, Aquino and DOH Secretary Janette Garin met with Sanofi official, submitted a proposal to the DBM for its purchase and licensed the drug as a Dengue Vaccine for “all types of Individuals from 9-45 years old living in high-risk areas.”

It is simply chilling and mind-boggling to learn that this tragedy was very nearly avoided.

We recall back in July of 2014, there was a move to impeach then President Noynoy Aquino over the Disbursement Allocation Plan (DAP) controversy.  Three complaints, one filed by Oliver Lozano, another filed by Buboy Syjuco and another filed by Neri Colmenares.  The impeachment complaint was unsurprisingly thrown out in September of that year by the highly sympathetic House of Representatives.  Had the impeachment succeeded in gaining traction, the impeachment may very well have prevented the tragedy that was to become Dengvaxia.  Worse may have been that the failure of the impeachment may have further emboldened Aquino, who, unsurprisingly, used the same DAP playbook in raising the funds for Dengvaxia.

(A news report from that time)

Some have argued that the same would have been a waste of time, as it was already the twilight of Benigno Aquino III’s administration.  We could weather whatever incompetence and “Noynoying” that was about to come right?  Political stability was the more important concern back then.

Let us mull the irony of this argument for a moment.

Of course, one shouldn’t impeach an official on the basis of preventing something he/she might do just as much as one shouldn’t withhold impeachment on the argument that his/her term is about to end.  We punish an official on the basis of what he/she has done and not on the basis of damage potential.

To Impeach or not to Impeach

The takeaway is this:  It is never too late in the day to impeach an official.  Once that person has committed an impeachable offense, it is time to let him go, regardless of the damage he might or might not do.

One Moment You're Just Merrily Tootling Along Minding Your Own Business...

...The Next Moment You're Crushed!

I am writing about the ill-fated bus that fell off the skyway and killed 18 people. It fell thirty feet from the sky bridge and crushed a truck that was just minding his own business, likely trying to deliver some goods and products for the use of the one for whom it was destined.

Imagine the fury of that person whose contract for delivery could no longer be made.

What if that bus fell on a bus carrying young students from a rich kid school—the hope of our nation? The bus company will be shut down for sure. What if that truck was carrying a nuclear weapon? We'd all, literally, be toast.^*

The bus accidents just keep on coming and nobody is safe.  Neither is this bus accident the first time that road safety is brought to the public consciousness in recent memory.  Does anyone remember how the owner of Sarabia Optical  met his untimely demise?  Remember how all the years of rigorous training of UP Professor Chit Estela-Simbulan ended in vain?

So what are we trying to do about it and what solutions do I suggest?

The government has suspended the bus company. This is good for thirty days (December 16, 2013 – January 15, 2014). The authorities are going to investigate the bus company and conduct drug testing on the bus drivers. They will continue to investigate camera footage and eye witness reports to determine who is at fault. Using this, they may decide to cancel the public service franchise of the bus company.

It is worth mentioning that just last month, another bus company got into another fatal accident killing six pedestrians. This accident occurred last November 14, 2013, therefore the bus company's thirty day suspension has already passed so their buses are likely out there, barreling down the highways at the speed of sound, ready and waiting to slay the hope of the Nation. I wonder how their case is coming along now.

Authorities and the skyway operator is also looking into ways to improve safety on the skyway.

The victims are free to file charges against the driver (but he's dirt poor, so good luck trying to get damages from him) and/or the bus company. This is important because the Courts can order the company to pay exemplary and moral damages. This is important because it makes it expensive for bus companies to have accidents, they will be forced to conduct extraordinary diligence in picking bus drivers and in the maintenance of their rusting hulks of a bus.

Some legislators have suggested creating new speed limits for the roads and for each class of vehicle. I am of the opinion that this is un-called for and stupid. First, there are already speed limit laws. Second, the speed limits he's proposing are far too slow. He wan't 40 kph for an arrow straight boulevard! So, we should instead just enforce the current speed limits and perhaps install some speed cameras and radar traps—something that is already being done in rich countries.

A better suggestion which the authorities are investigating is the installation of an electronic speed limiter on the buses, so that they would never stray over 60kph. This is more feasible. It probably just entails the installation of a chip or a remapping of an engine's ECU. And there is no driver discretion involved. His bus will NEVER go over 60kph.

My suggestions:

1. Just pay the bus drivers salaries. This is the most obvious solution. In fact, the DOLE has already passed a memorandum on this which requires bus companies to pay their driver's fixed salaries. The bus operators were able to get an injunction over this for a time but the Court was able to rule against the bus operators, therefore busdrivers are now supposed to receive salaries instead of the old boundary system. However, the bus drivers are still paid on commission basis in over and above their salaries, so the competition for passengers and the “demonic racecar” mentality still remains.  (Note:  The Don Mariano Bus Company appears to have violated this order)

2. Sue the LTFRB and/or the LTO. I'm suggesting a taxpayers suit. Sometimes, government is so inutile in its implementation that a petition for mandamus is needed before it would so something so obvious. In MMDA vs. Concerned Citizens of Manila Bay, the Concerned citizens had to sue the MMDA and other government agencies to clean up Manila Bay—something which is obviously within their power as provided for under many laws already existing which protect the environment.

I am not the only one who shares this sentiment, the following passage is from a nationally syndicated opinion columnist, Atty. Batas Mauricio in his daily column Kakampi mo ang Batas, speaking on the Don Mariano Bus “frenzied flight of doom” says:

 LTO, LTFRB REMISS IN THEIR DUTIES: I do not want to engage in finger-pointing now, but I certainly blame both the Land Transporation Office (LTO) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), and say they are greatly responsible for the death of 21 or more people after a passenger bus jumped off the Skyway toll plaza in Las Pinas City and pinned down a van at the South Luzon Expressway on Monday, December 16, 2013.

Why? Well, it is quite clear that the LTO and the LTFRB are completely remiss in their duties to see to it that only the psychologically and mentally-prepared are issued driver’s licenses and allowed to drive public utility vehicles such as the ill-fated Don Mariano Bus that fell off the Skyway.

As things stand in both the LTO and the LTFRB now, anyone who can pay are able to get licenses, and then drive away. This is reprehensible because both the LTO and the LTFRB ought to know, if only they are properly doing their work, that many holders of driver’s licenses are not fit to drive, psychologically and mentally, as shown by their totally reckless driving, rude behavior, and, many a time, gross ignorance of even the most basic rules of road courtesy.

3. Women bus drivers. In my opinion, women drivers are more capable of compassion and driving precision.

4. Last suggestion is for the drivers themselves. The bus drivers should police their own ranks. They should realize that whenever one of them has a fatal accident, their bus company will get suspended, they will have no work for a month and they will have no pay. There should be lynching among themselves. If one of their fellow drivers causes their company to be suspended, his fellow drivers should gang up and lynch him, publicly humiliate him and dismember his remains in front of the barrio where he resides. This is not a time for pakikisama, it is a time for vengeance.

I know that being accountable for one's actions is a foreign concept to Filipinos and most Bus drivers would rather just tolerate the reckless ways of their own, but they should change. I'm sure the drivers and conductors affected by the suspension would very much love to slay the one who caused the accident.

Fear of reprisals from their peers should serve as an adequate deterrent to reckless driving.  A bus driver should at the back of his small mind remember that his fellow drivers, equally barbaric and small-minded, knows where he lives and will publicly dismember him if he causes an accident.  This should always be at the back of his mind whenever he is tempted to barrel down Commonwealth ave at twice the speed limit of 60kph.

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*Nevermind the constitutional prohibition... this is merely a hypothetical.