So I saw this lengthy MMDA Advisory on my timeline. It caught my eye immediately because I drive everyday so everything contained therein was relevant to me.
This is maybe half of the MMDA Advisory, you can view the full version at https://www.facebook.com/MMDAPH/posts/1046888458683149.
You know I can’t even count the number of times in the past that I’ve been asked to pull over and threatened with a ticket because I was “swerving”. This would happen even if the road was practically empty, I was driving slowly using a signal light, and I wasn’t really disturbing anyone. When I was accosted, I automatically assumed it was my fault. The cop would proceed to take my license, take out his ticket pad, and then tell me he’d issue one. I would plead (sometimes they let me go) and if that didn’t work, I would offer a bribe just so I wouldn’t have to go through the hassle of going to Lord-knows-where to claim my license.
But that’s not what I want to share today.
Yesterday afternoon, I was driving. I was about to turn from Sapphire Road to Ortigas. There was a lone guard (as in security guard) with his back turned to me directing traffic. The car in front of me went ahead and turned. I followed. He suddenly turns to me, stops me, and tells me I should not have driven forward. The conversation went something like this albeit it was in Tagalog. I’m translating the entire conversation to English for non-Tagalog speaking readers.
Me: “I didn’t see any stoplight or traffic sign! I just followed the car in front of me!”
Guard: “There is no stoplight here I’m in charge of directing traffic and I told you to stop! Do you know I can give you a ticket???”
He then proceeds to call a cop. The cop tells me to pull over at the side of the road.
Cop: “Show me your license.”
Me: “Why? There was no stoplight, no traffic sign, the guy had his back turned to me and I just followed the car in front!”
Cop: “I just want to look at your license.”
I knew where this was going. I had been through the entire “I want to see your license” drill waaaay too many times in the past. If I give him my license, he will really take it, take out the ticket pad, and then threaten me with a traffic violation.
Me: “You can’t take my license! I know the law! I didn’t violate anything!” (The exact thing I said in Tagalog was actually “Hindi mo pwede kunin ang lisensya ko, alam ko ang batas!”)
He let me go. Instantly.
I’m just so thankful that a friend on Facebook shared the MMDA Advisory and I was able to read it in its entirety before this incident. I suggest you check the link I posted above and do the same, it just might save you from unnecessary stress and harassment on the road.
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