In the last 48 hours, 5 people died and several injured from a bombing of a public bus around Buendia, Makati City.
These are just ordinary folks who put their faith in the government to protect them in exchange for paying their dues as citizens in the form of taxes and even just being consumers. If you look at it from a business standpoint, they're assets. And good business acumen requires you to protect those assets.
In this case, the government has failed. Miserably.
Sure, the government can always reason out that terrorism and destabilization activities are hard to look out for. But there are ways to deter them. It's not as if this has not happened before. Rizal day 2005 anyone?
And yet, what have we done about it to prevent it from happening in the future. Can anyone please tell me?
Some politicos have called out for the reinstatement of the death penalty. Great. It's as if the terrorists are scared of that. And if these ghastly acts were done by destabilizers, has any investigation managed to point to the financiers and plotters?
Some have called out for the registration of SIM cards. Sure, some bombs were detonated by cellular phones, but there are other ways to trigger them without using SIM cards. And Im not particularly inclined to give out my name to a guy selling SIM cards in a kiosk. A name and a SIM number. Imagine the possibilities. Identity theft anyone?
Since 2005, there have been bombings all over the country, and for the life of me, i cant fathom how supposedly capable men in government have not brokered the idea even a grade schooler can come up with: CCTV cameras in public utility vehicles.
You read that right. CCTV cameras. That's easy right? If everyone entering a PUV would get caught on video, how many evil elements do you think would even dare to step inside a PUV? Maybe a few idiots, but not most.
I broached the idea to some friends, and i was told that if a bomb exploded, it'll ruin the recorded video. I said sure, unless you put it in a very durable enclosure. You know planes? They have what you call black boxes. Yep. Big black boxes that can survive an explosive crash landing. Cool aint it?
Now all you have to do is place the digital video records(DVR) in a very durable enclosure that can survive a bomb explosion. And then put that box somewhere not easily accessible. You can even draft a law that tampering said enclosure would send you to a black box too for the foreseeable future.
Imagine that. You can record holdups, pickpockets and even some mooning action all in glorious video.
If public establishments and areas can have their own CCTVs, why not PUVs? Aren't they required to ensure the safety of their commuters? For the life of me, i cant stop wondering why they havent put up CCTVs on their own, especially with countless crimes being done inside PUVs. I guess it's because they just dont care. A lot of crimes are done against their commuters, not against themselves. So maybe it's high time that we make them accountable.
The government can force them to shoulder the costs of putting up CCTVs in their vehicles, or if they're a bit more sensitive to the PUV operators' finances, why not give them a discount during their annual vehicle registrations until they're fully paid?
Again, it's an easy, and i think quite effective way of deterring future crimes done inside PUVs. And i really cant think of why no one from the government has proposed it yet.
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