Public roads are beyond the commerce of man. It’s a basic provision of the law and needs no further explanation and interpretation. However, in the case of the Philippines, such has become so complicated as political accomodation has allowed enterprising people to conquer the roads and establish their businesses white the motorists are left to find their way amid the chaos.
This kind of political accomodation made monsters out of the empowered individuals and each time an attempt is made to clear the road of obstructions the local chief executive concerned is swamped with complaints and indirect threats of not getting re-elected. At times, these people would make it appear that they are being oppressed and it’s the problem of the government to look for places where they can continue doing business. The poor local chief executive who gave out P500 just to be voted is left hostaged and incapable of getting the road cleared.
Until Manila Mayor Isko Moreno ordered the clearing of Divisoria and all other road obstructions in Manila and was followed by an order of President Rodrigo Duterte to return the roads to the motorists.
So in Iloilo City, Mayor Jerry Treñas executed the road clearing through the Task Force on Anti-Squatting and Illegal Structures which finally after a decade since its creation saw its purpose of course with a caviat, the President has ordered the clearing and we are left with no choice but to implement it.
Poor Duterte, he ordered it so Treñas is left with no choice and so the mayor should not be blamed. Finally it was found out that the barangay hall of Alalasan in Lapaz is sitting on the road right of way. The roads around the public markets of the city will soon be cleared of all the stalls and and tents with fruits and even cut lumbers being displayed and sold.
We can only hope that in the interior towns, the order of the president would include those who make the roads as their most expensive solar driers and the road gutters as their display areas for their products.
More than the safety issue, such order and the implementation of which is a sign of discipline that is much needed in jump-starting development and nation-building.
It took Moreno to take the lead and Duterte to order a nationwide implementation but of course, the question remains, with out the likes of Moreno and Duterte, how long will these clearings last?
