The latest outrage making the rounds over social media is the running down of a pedestrian — a pregnant young foreign woman — on a street in the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) business district. The aftermath of the incident was captured in photos that were published by the motoring magazine site Top Gear Philippines. The perpetrator was reportedly driving a black Toyota Fortuner with plate number of AAL-6646, according to a certain Scott Gutsy Tuason. The vehicle is pictured turned on its side at the scene of the accident.
Senseless indeed. Why would a motorist be driving at speeds high enough to cause his vehicle to overturn in such a way? The type of vehicle, a black Toyota Fortuner SUV, offers clues to the character of its driver or owner. We all know the profile.
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It makes more sense if city planners altogether refrain from painting zebra stripes to mark pedestrian crossing zones (supposedly) on Philippine streets. They only mislead people into believing that these markings actually mean something to the average Filipino motorist.
Having a zebra stripe mark on a “crossing lane” in the Philippines is actually more dangerous than having no marking at all. Foreigners coming from societies where the law is observed and where zebra-striped pedestrian lane markings actually mean something important to both pedestrian and motorist are specially at risk from these false markings. Unless they are properly briefed on the banal lawlessness that characterises Philippine street life, they are likely to take all the street markings in “modern” urban communities like the BGC too seriously. Filipino locals, on the other hand, know better and regard traffic signs and marking with a grain of salt at best. These signs and markings are but mere decorations. The way street markings are laid out on Philippine streets — even in tony districts like the BGC — does not really follow international traffic signage and signalling standards. They are more for aesthetics than practical utility.
We look around chi-chi places like the BGC and think, wow, what a trendy cosmopolitan place! In reality, these place are all modern only in form. The true substance underneath the shallow gloss of “modern” Metro Manila becomes evident when we witness and, knock on wood, experience the deadly underbelly of the Filipino psyche in incidents such as these.
Filipinos should be outraged not just by appalling accidents like these. They should also stop tolerating what they, for now, consider to be “minor” offenses against common decency — like counterflowing drivers who indulge their massive sense of entitlement to flout the law to the point of threatening and even assaulting those who take a stand call out their boorish behaviour.
[Photo courtesy Top Gear.]
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
You’ve got to be asking…”What the fuck is wrong with us fucking Filipinos????”
a LOT!
The answer is, you are undereducated Filipinos who are xenophobic assholes when anyone even dares to question your intelligence or to confront you with the ignorance of your actions.
Actually I could have answered more simply by saying only:
“The answer is, you are Filipinos.”
Wow, calling out xenophobia by being xenophobic yourself. Hmm…I think you are a Pinoy too, hiding behind a keyboard name…. tsk tsk. They say that the what you hate most in others is the shadow within yourself.
baaam! you walked right into that one carleyeshield. hahaha. Pinoy here! we’re not xenophobic we do look like it most of the time when we try to hide how much extraordinay we are. That probably pisses you off Jerry Lynch. You’re probably surrounded by Pinoys overshadowing you everyday.
That sort of accident does not happen only in Philippines. It’s stupidity taking over the wheels. That’s the inexcusable thing Filipino or not.
The woman is reported to be stable in the ICU. No reports about the child yet.
carleyeshield, The answer is the innate selfishness culture that permeates the Filipino mind in this country.
So ironic that Filipinos that live/work in other countries abide by that country’s laws. It comes to show that they CAN follow rules and regulations. But when it comes to their own country, screw that! Hmm.. must be the Philippine air or something.
Judging by the kind of car involved in this encounter, you can be rich but still can’t afford to educate yourself in basic traffic rules.
In the Philippines, rules are there, alright, but enforcement of which is another story. It’s so tempting for ordinary citizens to take the law into their own hands when we see these things happen. It’s like living in our own Gotham city in real life.
I feel lawlessness is right up the corner in this country. This speaks volumes of of Filipino ego and recklessness. This is truly another point for idiocy.
Who’s the driver? Was he a Binay?
BBB Binays are Bad for Business
I am a pinoy. I like to spit on sidewalks, piss in public, throw trash in the river. I like speaking loudly in public shouting in elevators. I like cutting lines and drinking beer on sidewalks.
I like to build illegal structures on sidewalks too if I can’t use that as a parking space.
I smoke in jeeps and share-taxis and indoor spaces (prohibited by [useless] law). Cigarette butts and candywrappers are for the street.
I shout cursewords like “putang ina” and “hayop” as though they were prepositions and I scold my children for saying the same. Did I mention I like to piss on my neighbor’s bush?
Oh yes, when I drive, I feel like I’m the king of the road. Pedestrians out of the way! This is ok because I don’t own the car anyway, its by “amo’s” so I don’t have to pay for repairs or insurance. My amo is too lazy to drive himself and my labor is cheaper than gas so it works well for him.
Don’t tell my amo that the tireblack on his car is actually my piss.
Did you see that guy stopping at the red light? Why did he do that? I’ll honk my horn, he should get out of the way!
Oops, caught by the cops. Kamot ulo.
I thought you were talking about the mainland Chinese. Been to China quite a few times, the stuff you talk about, the mainland Chinese are worse.
No excuse. Just because someone behaves worse doesn’t mean we could. Especially not from a country aspiring to join the ranks of the developed and cultured. At the least the Chinese can boast infrastructure development in lands far away from the mainland–#wesphilippinesea
*west philippine sea
Let’s face a simple fact: Filipinos are the brown trash of Asia. The three basic characteristics of a Filipino are: traitor, liar, and thief.
The Philippines deserves to be occupied by a foreign power because it’s clear that Filipinos are incapable of governing themselves.
I have a friend back in our country, when I was growing up. He had a Driver’s License; but he had no vehicle to drive. He did not know how to drive a motor vehicle.
Filipino motorist never observe those traffic signs. Just observe, how many vehicles driving, will Stop at a “Stop” sign. How many drivers will Yield to a “Yield” sign. It is , as if, they own the road.
The Police is nowhere, to enforce the traffic laws. If they catch some errant drivers. A few “lagay” will solve their problems. They are back again on the road, violating traffic rules.
It is man for himself on our roads. No laws are observed.
Beware of black SUVs and luxury cars, mostly armored, the more you go East in Europe…
The type of owners are similar to the type that you probably have in the Philippines, their impunity even worse and VERY dangerous.
The Philippine media have already started monitoring this. God I wish they’ll be vigilant enough to monitor this up to the end replacing showbiz news and other political non-sense.
Let justice be served and by saying that I mean punish (hurt, maim, decapitate) the guilty one(s).
Stupid people. Wasted sperms.
Im a foreigner living in the Phil 15 yrs. when I 1st came here i noticed drivers just ignored black and white zebra crossings. I wondered why they were painted on the road when everyone ignored them. Im a driver here (10 yrs) I to ignore them im afraid if i stop then someone is going to crash into me from behind. If they dont make it a rule to stop then they should stop painting them on the road
I often wonder why paint is wasted on pedestrian crossings here and why pedestrians still continue to use them. I am a foreigner and a motorist. I apply the rules of the road that I have learned in Europe. Those rules are broadly the same here, its just that as in other aspects of life Pinoys don’t believe the rules are important, apply to them or they are ignorant of them. Failure to give way to pedestrians on a cross-walk is punishable by a heavy fine. But like other laws here, they are not enforced, so Pinoys do whatever they like with no consideration to others.
Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?
There are lots of them in the Failippines, and they’re called Failipinos.
when money cannot buy class
There’s alot of hate going on for tbis site, how about the fact that the MEDIA went crazy over a few snaps before checking the factsand now have to retract themselves?
Update— the car crashed into the lady because it was hit very hard from behind causing it to jump a red traffic light into the pedestrian zone.
I’m not excusing the millions of those who are petty traffic offenders, not in the least. They still need a solution too, and very well much aware its part of the massive social problem.
BUT in this case, there is something obviously missing in the picture, both literally and figuratively. It’s an example of how media can defame a presumed innocent in 5 minutes, and the nation jumps on the bandwagon without checking it. IF this blog is media, you are tarnished with the same brush as well, now go FIX it.
Road signs are not only decorations, there are even gold mine of some corrupt officials. Sometimes even a political propaganda. Some road signs I saw has initials in it’s concrete bases. In Manila, even the gutters are colored orange and blue (orange is the color of former president estrada) as a subliminal messaging to the “bobotantes”. In bacoor, blue and yellow, the color of Strike Revilla.
poor driving education ditto sa pinas. most motorist don’t really understand the concept of defensive driving. it’s all about courtesy and discipline.
lalo na ung pedxing ay puta. human life yan adre. pedxing are actual protection to xing peds. kahit nga walang pedxing pag may taong tumawid dapat give way ka dahil ikaw ung may sasakyan eh. pag ikaw naman ung ped bibigyan ka rin naman ng right-of-way. courtesy and discipline ay give and take dapat.