Tales from the Makati Rush Hour

Another fake-o brush with the law. This time the people in yellow.

To further illustrate the situation. I made a drawing... in paint (that's so grade school liz).



Legend:
Red yung punyetang VAN.
Green kami.

Sino kaya sa tingin ninyo hinuli?

KAMI!

Anong violation: Hindi daw kami nagstop nung pinapastop kami nung traffic police.
(eh ang tanga naman eh. panu ba namin makikita.. yung reflector niya.. i swear ginawa niya itong major point naka yellow reflector siya... hindi makikita kung nakablock yung isang P@#$*@G coche sa harapan mo!!)

Sa sobrang bwsit ko: "KUYA... magkano ba talaga gusto niyo"
I swear. the guy was aking for it... 8:00pm. near jollibee. dinner time... the fuck?!?"

Hormones + PMS = Liz the warfreak.

(ok fine. adding fuel to the fire.. naks! inaamin ko mali yung nasabi ko.. but still!)

"Ma'am ang bastos naman ninyo. Sumusweldo kami sa opisina. hindi suhol"
YEAAAAHHH RIIIGGGHHHTT!!

Anyway... to cut the long story short. (eto yung mga kwento na kelangan ng emotions and hand gestures). The MMDA tried to give a ticket to the driver... eto yung malala.

"Paghindi mo ibigay yung lisensya mo kukuning ko yung plaka ng coche mo"

Sabay labas ng fake cheap-o swiss army knife.
Sabay labas ng coche yung driver.
Sabay nilock ko yung coche.

"Tangina... is that a threat?!"

After wasting 5 minutes... pasok yung driver.
Discuss discuss ulit.

I finally found my phone and called the MMDA hotline..
(THanks so much to the person who posted the MMDA thing sa yahoogroups. It really helped me alot.)

Turning my back from the office... in a really LOUD voice:
"Yeah.. MMDA. I would like to report a violation at the corner of jupiter, makati ave... makati mandaluyong bound... near macdonalds in makati ave. We were stopped because the traffic officer said that we violated traffic rules and regulation... CLEARLY we were not in any violation. I cannot understand why we were apprehended while he let the van on the innermost lane suddenly make a right... CLEARLY the traffic officer doesnot know the rules of the of the road.. blah blah blah. english english english" THANK GOD hindi ako na barok.

Guy on the phone: yaddi yadiiyaah "Ma'am can you please get his name so that we can report it to the officer in charge in Makati"

As I was facing the officer to ask his name... 3 things happend:
(1) "alex anong pangalan nung nanghuli"
(2) tinataas na ni alex yung window ng car
(3) yung REFLECTORIZED yellow traffic officer... walking away....

Alex: "Liz tapos na. Hindi naman kinuha yung lisesnsya ko... binalik din niya. Warning nalang daw"

uulitin ko ha: "Kuya.. magkano ba talaga gusto ninyo?"
HA!!!!

Was it that he heard me complaining to MMDA?

Never mess with someone who is having her monthly period. PERIOD!

aaaaaaaaah... so much hatred in my blog entry....
xoxoxoxoxxooooooohhhh (napabulong nalang)

I asked the MMDA official if it's illegal to threaten or even PHYSICALLY remove the plate from the car:

Friends: it is ILLEGAL to THREATEN or EVEN TO PHYSICALLY REMOVE THE PLATE FROM THE CAR.

---
MMDA NUMBERS THAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:
02-882-0876
02-882-0866
02-882-0877
02-882-0889

I suggest that you copy these numbers in you phone right now jsut incase something happens and you really need it.
----

The email that was sent be someone from IMC:

TOOLS AGAINST MMDA OFFICERS

MMDA head office - Personnel Officer, Antonio Pagulayan

If any of these abuses seem familiar to you, Mr. Pagulayan has asked that you call either the MMDA hotline (136) or call the METRO BASE at 0920 9389861 or 0920 9389875 and ask for an Inspectorate. They will send inspectors to the place where these MMDA officers are extorting, even while you are arguing out of your apprehension.

1. MMDA officers are not allowed to group together in order to apprehend. They are not even allowed to stand together in groups of 2 or more. The only time they are allowed to work together is for special operations (probably when they apprehend groups of buses for smoke belching)

2. Swerving IS NOT a traffic violation. Moving one lane to the left or right is not swerving, no matter where on the road you do it. And it is even less of a violation when you do it with a signal. Swerving is defined as shifting 2 or more lanes very quickly. So you can argue your way out of this, and call the Metro Base for help.

3. Sadly, using the yellow lane is a traffic violation and will get you a ticket. However, buses are really not allowed to go out of the yellow lane, so if you see selective apprehension of private cars only, you may complain.

4. MMDA has confirmed that your license MAY NOT BE CONFISCATED at a traffic apprehension. The only time they can do so is if you are part of an accident, or it is your third violation and you have not settled your fines yet. They are only allowed to give you a ticket, which you can contest. He recommends actually receiving the ticket in some instances, so that you can report the officer who did it.

Also, you are free to ask any of these officers for their "mission order", which is written by their supervisor. If they apprehend you for a violation that is not in their mission order for the day, you can report them and they will receive disciplinary action.