Jan 17, 2018


One excuse less

"Nawalan ng preno" , or brake failure is one of the most used, overused and abused reasons of drivers for road accidents, especially for horrendous ones. It's seldom, or perhaps never driver error, as I guess no driver is stupid enough to admit that.

So now I wonder what excuse would drivers involved in accidents think of next should the present crack down on "rolling coffins" or dilapidated and unworthy public utility vehicles (PUV) being implemented by the government go relentlessly unforgiving and consistent, as it appears to be now.

Baring that this would not be another "ningas cogon" foray of the government just to earn "pogi points" from the public, we would expect a hastened leveling up of public utility vehicles. Especially if this campaign would be coupled with the promised fielding of modern jeepneys that meet specified designs and standards like engines with Euro 4 emissions, if not electric-run, side-door entry and exit, front-facing seats equipped with seat belts, auto fare collection, cctv, free wifi, etc.

As many of us expected, none or very few PUVs if any would pass the quality and safety inspection being conducted by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) on vehicles that are smoke belchers or appear to be dilapidated. But the big question is how these vehicles in question were they able to register and ply their routes in such a state when they were supposed to have passed the Motor Vehicle Inspection System (MVIS) tests prior to registration?

But don't wrack your brains thinking about how did it really happen because in fact and in deed we don't have a working MVIS in the country that is suppose to determine PUVs as to whether they are smoke belchers or rolling coffins or not prior to registration. At the most we may have probably one or two in the country that are half working, which are suppose to test hundreds of thousands of PUVs yearly, indeed a close to impossible task, if not utterly impossible. This situation leads us to conclude that we have a "diploma mill" in the issuance of certification of roadworthiness.

Now there are reports that the government is mulling to have "mobile testing equipment" that would actually perform these emission and roadworthiness tests. The word "mobile" worries me as the tests could be conducted roadside, as was practiced before, which caused more traffic flow obstruction. And a non-permanent site somehow could be more prone to possible collusion and corruption.

Currently we see less and less smoke belchers among the ranks of private vehicles. This could be a sign that the privatization of vehicle testing prior to registration may be finally working. It is possible that the digital safeguards in place, which are designed and implemented to assure that actual testing of vehicles are sufficient to eradicate the "no show" malpractice. Furthermore, the present long time players in this industry are now there for the long haul may not find a few pesos coming from unscrupulous owners who don't have the time to wait for the actual testing of their vehicles worth jeopardizing their established enterprises.

Having said that, isn't it high time to similarly privatize the motor vehicle inspection system for PUVs? Not unless the government now has enough money to put up nationwide the needed MVIS centers to look into all of the country's PUVs to ensure their roadworthiness.

CAMPI confirms renewed support for road safety advocacy

The Chamber of Automobile Manufacturers of the Philippines (CAMPI) finally confirmed its renewed sponsorship of the Young Street Smarts Road Safety School Tour (YSSC) for school year 2017 - 2018.

Established in 2010 bySocio Com Foundation for Asia (Socio Com) and organized and conducted bySunshine Television ( STV), the YSSC is a series of road safety seminar-workshops conducted FREE for high school students with some teachers and parents in attendance.

As the country's biggest automotive association, CAMPI's second year of sponsorship is attuned to its overall effort as major stakeholders to promote road safety and the public's awareness to its significance.

In their initial participation last school year CAMPI stated that, "It is not only about manufacturing or selling safe automobiles that our membership has its focus on, but is also much concerned about the safety of the general motoring public composed of drivers, bikers, commuters and pedestrians… The YSS Road Safety School Tour is one of the most effective ways to teach young students how to be a safe and responsible road user… And supporting this road safety advocacy is a natural corporate and social responsibility of all CAMPI members. "

For this school year the CAMPI Young Street Smarts Road Safety School Tour has visited the following schools, namely;

1. Colegio de los Baños with a total of 216 attendees composed of Grades 11 and 12 students, 11 members of the faculty and those from the Rotary Club of Los Baños.

2. Lourdes School of Mandaluyong with 304 attendees composed of Grades 11 & 12 students and 6 faculty members.

3. Mary Help of Christians Mabalacat where 360 grades 7 to 12 students, 5 faculty 3. members and 5 parents.

4. PAREF Northfield School for Boys with 157 students from Grades 10 to 12 and a faculty member attending.

5. Don Bosco Pampanga where 248 Grade 11 students participated joined by 10 members from the Parent's Council and 5 School Service drivers.

At least 5 more schools from Metro Manila and near adjoining provinces are still on queue until the end of the school year.

In your office, at home or on your phone

That's how convenient it is now to find out the latest transportation and traffic management news, vehicle maintenance and road safety tips, international motorsports events, together with all the other varied facets of motoring just by clicking on www.motoringtoday.ph .

While for reviews of the latest automobile models as well as head-to-head comparisons of their features, car launches and test drive events, and anything and everything about the automobile and its industry there's www.autofocus.com.ph .

Both websites are the online versions of the TV magazine shows Motoring Today and Auto Focus and they offer the best of both worlds to viewers-a choice of selective viewing of portions or watching the entire episode on its 'TV streaming page' to include past episodes as well any time of the day.

Happy Motoring!!!

For comments & inquiries (email)

sunshine.television@yahoo.com

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ray Butch Gamboa graduated from the College of Arts and Letters of the University of Sto. Tomas. It was a course that should have been preparatory to a law degree, but the call of broadcasting aborted his plans.

At the age of 16, while still a student, Butch tried his hand at disc jockeying, landing a job at Mareco Broadcasting Network’s AM stations DZBM and DZLM. From there, Butch moved on with his illustrious career as a popular disc jockey, riding the airwaves of Bob Stewart’s middle-of-the-road music at DZXX, and ending his disc jockeying career at ABS-CBN’s DZYL and DZQL.

From there, he stayed on with ABS-CBN, covering live the proceedings at the Manila Stock Exchange and eventually entered into the world of television sales as an account manager for the premier channel of ABS-CBN Channel 2.

In the early 70’s, at the outbreak of Martial Law, Butch was one of the thousands of professionals who woke up jobless when then President Marcos declared the new status of the nation. With the closure of ABS-CBN, Butch ventured into different fields outside of broadcast. He tried his hand and with ease and success at export (Costume jewelry), real estate (brokerage), and restaurants (fast food).

In 1987, after the revolution, with the broadcast industry back to its free state, and with its irresistible call ringing in his ears, Butch made his inevitable comeback and pioneered in a local motoring show, producing Motoring Today on Channel 4 and co-hosting with local motor sports’ living legend Pocholo Ramirez.

After 4 years, he ventured into another pioneering format by producing and hosting Business & Leisure, which was originally aired on ABS-CBN’s Channel 2. The format eventually espoused similar ones in other different channels. But the clones in due course faded away leaving the original staying on airing on Channel 4 and eventually on Shop TV on Sky Cable’s Channel 13.

The following year, the pioneering spirit in Butch spurred him to produce another TV show, Race Weekend, also on Channel 4, covering circuit racing at the Subic International Raceway after the motor sport’s hiatus of 17 years. But when similar shows with duplicated formats sprouted, he decided to give way and ended the program after a year, although still enjoying unparalleled viewership.

In 1998, when the local automotive industry was in a slump, Butch contributed his share to help the ailing industry by producing another popular motoring-related show, this time exclusive to the automobile and its industry—Auto Focus, which became a vehicle for local automotive assemblers and importers to showcase their products and dwell on the industry’s latest technological developments.

In 2003, Butch teamed up with his brother, Rey Gamboa who was a former Shell executive and presently one Philippine Star’s business columnist to co-produce and co-host the TV show Breaking Barriers on Channel 13. It is a talk show that features guests who are in the news and in the middle of controversies. The program ventures to draw deeper insights into current issues to learn how they impact to our daily lives.

Today, Motoring Today on its 28th year of service to the general motoring public still enjoys its unprecedented loyal vierwership nationwide while Auto Focus, after 16 years has firmly established its niche viewership among automobile enthusiasts and on the other hand Business & Leisure is on its 24th year dishing out current business issues and lifestyle features.

Today, aside from writing weekly columns for the Philippine Star (Motoring Today on Wednesdays and Business & Leisure on Saturdays) and executive producer / host of weekly TV shows (Motoring Today, airs Sundays on Solar Sports Channel 70, Business & Leisure, airs Tuesdays on Shop TV, Sky Cable Channel 13 and Auto Focus airs Thursdays on Shop TV, Sky Cable Channel 13, Ray Butch Gamboa is currently the Chairman and CEO of Sunshine Television Production and Marketing Services Corp., President of Gamcor Management and Development Corp., Chairman of Asia-Pacific Realty Corporation, President and Chairman of Socio-Communication Foundation for Asia and Founding Chairman of the Society of Phil. Motoring Journalists (SPMJ)