This Father Is No Hero

Recently a father and his son were rammed by a truck in a horrible accident while they were on the way to fetch the man's live-in partner. While the two were flying through the air the father, in an act of quick thinking, tossed his son to the side of the road underneath a parked truck. This likely saved the boy's life. However, this father is no hero. Let's look at the story. 

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/628968/dads-last-act-saving-his-kid-after-truck-rams-motorcycle-from-behind

A 27-year-old father saved his three-year-old son from severe injury or death, but, unfortunately, he lost his life in doing so.

This was after their motorcycle was rammed from behind by a speeding dump truck, causing the victims to be thrown off the motorcycle and into the hard pavement. 

This happened at past 10 p.m. on March 20 in Sitio Tapuco, Barangay Pit-os, Cebu City.

It could have been a father’s instinct to protect his child, who then was riding in front of him in the motorcycle at the time of impact. This was because he instinctively grabbed the kid as they were thrown off the motorcycle.

Perhaps, sensing that it would be more dangerous for his son to land with him on the pavement in the middle of the road, according to the police report, the father as they were “sailing in the air,” then instinctively threw his child under a parked truck on the right lane of the road.

Witnesses said that the father was thrown a few meters more, landed on the hard pavement and then got hit at the side of the head by the front wheels of the dump truck, causing his death.

According to his relatives, the victim and his son did not wear any helmet because the place where they were going was just a few kilometers away from their home.

The man's three-year-old son was riding in front while wearing NO helmet because the father it was not needed since they were only traveling a short distance. What an idiot. You always wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle. It's a matter of safety and law. Also, three-year-olds are not allowed on motorcycles. Here is the law:

Section 4. Prohibition. – It shall be unlawful for any person to drive a two (2)-wheeled motorcycle with a child on board on public roads where there is heavy volume of vehicles, there is a high density of fast moving vehicles or where a speed limit of more than 60/kph is imposed, unless:

(a) The child passenger can comfortably reach his/her feet on the standard foot peg of the motorcycle;

(b) The child’s arms can reach around and grasp the waist of the motorcycle rider; and

(c) The child is wearing a standard protective helmet referred to under Republic Act No. 10054, otherwise known the "Motorcycle Helmet Act of 2009."

https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2015/ra_10666_2015.html

This law should not be needed as it is a matter of safety to prohibit your three-year-old son from riding on your motorcycle especially without a helmet. Now this father is dead and his son is hurt. That is what you get for neglecting basic safety.

The police in a report said the speeding dump truck was then counter-flowing because the truck driver wanted to overtake another truck in front of the victim’s motorcycle and another vehicle.

The truck in front stopped because they were trying to pass the road without snagging a low-lying electric wire.

Police in a report said that after ramming the motorcycle of the father and the son, the dump truck continued on and collided with 3 more motorcycles on the opposite lane of the road.

Fortunately, the drivers and the passengers of the three motorcycles managed to jump off and escape being severely injured as the dump truck plowed through the motorcycles.

The erring truck driver, then got off his truck, after the collision and fled the area fearing for his life.

He later surrendered to a police station.

The dump truck who hit them was speeding and counter-flowing as he tired to overtake a truck in front of the motorcycle. The truck then stopped because of a low-lying electric wire which caused the dump truck to ram the motorcycle and three more motorcycles before he came to a stop and fled the scene.

Everything is there. Speeding, low-lying electric wires, and fleeing the scene. It's a nightmare scenario of bad driving that takes place every minute of the day on Philippine roads. And the PNP cannot be bothered to patrol the roads as they are required to do. Here is the law:

Sec. 35 (B) (8) Traffic Management Unit. – Headed by a Director with the rank of chief superintendent, the Traffic Management Unit shall enforce traffic laws and regulations.

https://www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1990/ra_6975_1990.html

It's too bad the cops refuse to do their job of patrolling the roads. 

“Nagkuha ra gyod to siya sa iyang pares nga naghuwat sa may Pit-os nga gikan sa trabaho,” the victim’s mother told CDN Digital in an interview.

(He (the victim) was just fetching his live-in partner, who was waiting in a neighboring Barangay Pit-os, who had just got off work in the city.)

“Gida niya iyang bata para mosugat sa iyang mama, pero wa na sila nakaabot didto kay nadisgrasya naman sila,” she said.

(He brought his child with him to fetch the son’s mother, but they did not reach there because they met the accident.)

The victim and his live-in partner lived in Barangay Binaliw 1, which is the neighboring barangay of Pit-os. 

When asked if the couple’s three-year-old child was alright, the victim’s mother said that the child was hospitalized and would be released from the hospital that day.

“Nabukol ra man to sa iyang ulo. Gida sa hospital sa inahan, unya mao rag pagawason na to sila karon,” said the mother of the victim.

(The child had a big lump on the head. He was brought to the hospital by his mother, and he would be released today.)

The driver was detained at the Traffic Enforcement Unit of the Cebu City Police Office, pending the filing of a case of Reckless Imprudence Resulting in Homicide, Physical Injury and Damage to Property.

Of course the story is not over. The charges could be dropped if the family decides to settle. Hopefully they do not. 

This is just one more story of how dangerous the roads are in the Philippines. The father is being painted as a hero who saved his son in the split second before he died but the reality is he ignored basic safety and put his son's life in danger. This father is no hero.

The Motorcycle Is NOT A Family Vehicle

We've all seen them. Across the Philippines families pile on motorcycles. Babies and small children are crammed in-between their mother and father. Too often neither the adults nor the children are wearing helmets. It's a recipe for disaster. One family of five is now no more because they decided to treat their motorcycle as if it were a van. 

https://mb.com.ph/2025/2/16/family-of-5-dead-in-motorcycle-truck-collision

A family of five was killed in a collision in Barangay Gimangpang, Initao, Misamis Oriental on Friday afternoon, Feb. 14.

Investigation said the victims – a man, his wife, and their three children – were on their way home to Iligan City from an occasion in Alubijid, Misamis Oriental when their  motorcycle tried to overtake and rammed an Isuzu wing van truck bound for Cagayan de Oro City.

The truck stopped and was hit by a Honda Civic from Tubod, Iligan City from behind.

The victims were taken to a hospital where they were declared dead.

The truck driver is in police custody and faces appropriate cases.

The article does not give us any details. How old were the children? Wear they wearing helmets? It doesn't really matter though. Cramming five people on a motorcycle is inherently dangerous. Of course in the Philippines utility is prized over safety.

It also does not help that the police do not patrol the roads on a regular basis. As I noted above, all of these facts combined is a recipe for disaster.

Lola Is Tired of Loud, Speeding Motorcycles

Excessively loud and dangerously speeding motorcycles are a nuisance throughout the Philippines. One old lady decided she has had enough. 

https://mb.com.ph/2024/3/17/septuagenarian-in-ilocos-norte-apologizes-for-throwing-stick-at-rider

A septuagenarian who went viral on social media for throwing wood on the driver of a fast-moving and noisy motorcycle in front of her house in Barangay Bulala here on Wednesday morning, March 6, has apologized to the public for her actions.

Renie Leaño, 74, a former teacher and an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW), drew public attention after a surveillance footage posted on social media showed her throwing a piece of wood to a fast-moving motorcycle in front of her house.

The motorcycle rider, approximately in his mid to late 40s, returned and confronted Leaño who returned to her house but he followed her and bumped her, causing her to fall down.

The motorcycle rider sped off and Leaño slowly stood up and cursed at him in the native dialect Ilocano.

Surveillance footage later showed Leaño talking to another man, apparently complaining about the noise generated by passing motorcycles.

She later on was enraged by more passing motorcycles, and one rider whom she had said something stopped to confront her.

The man picked a stone which he threw at Leaño who avoided the projectile that landed in her house. Leaño was peeved and heard cursing while the man moved away.  

 

Some neighbors stepped in to diffuse the situation but Leaño continued to rant as more neighbors appeared. Moments later, she went inside her house.

She went out again and seemed to have not yet calmed down.    

People have lodged a complaint with barangay officials over Leaño’s actions.

Leaño said her actions were a reminder to speeding motorists to slow down when passing in front of her house as their noisy driving disturbed her and that it was not her intention to hurt them.

She said that she had been bringing up the matter to barangay officials since 2016 or a year upon returning to the country in 2015. 

Leaño said that she requested barangay officials to construct a hump on the road or put up a sign reminding motorists to slow down in front of her house. These, she said, were also for the safety of motorists.

She said that barangay officials have done nothing on her requests, prompting her to act on her own to address her concerns.

Leaño vowed to stop throwing firewood at passing motorists.

Barangay officials are consulting with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for appropriate solution to Leaño’s concerns. 

For eight years this lady has been bringing her concerns about loud and speeding motorcycles to the barangay. But they have done nothing. 

So, she took the matter into her own hands by throwing a piece of wood at and confronting loud speeding riders. Now, she is the one apologizing. Strangely, her own the neighbors have turned against her by filing complaints over her actions. It seems they are not concerned about loud speeding motorcyclists in their neighborhood.  

But others in this nation are concerned. In 2016 Senator Win Gatchalian introduced a bill penalizing drivers who use modified mufflers which increase noise. This bill was not passed into law and it was reintroduced in 2022. 

http://legacy.senate.gov.ph/lisdata/3913835576!.pdf

With the worsening traffic in Metro Manila , the concomitant noise emitted by motor vehicles just adds to the ordeal that our citizens has to go through every day. The steady increase of our population continues to trigger the environmental hazards of pollution, sad to say that the plague of "noise pollution" has never had any definite national policy nor regulation for control. Lumped in the general concept of air pollution, the dangers of noise pollution have been ignored or underestimated.

A World Health Organization (WHO) report has suggested that noise defined as an "unwanted sound" can affect human health and well-being, including annoyance reaction, sleep disturbance. Interference with communication, performance effects, and effects on social behavior. It further states that exposure to noise levels at or above 80 decibels has been medically proven to cause permanent hearing loss. This exposure to noise has also been associated with changes in blood pressure, other cardiovascular changes, problems with the digestive system and general fatigue.

While this bill is not law the City of Manila did enact a noise ordinance regarding mufflers in 2021.

https://manila.gov.ph/look-yorme-signed-into-law-ordinance-no-8772-regulating-the-use-of-modified-muffler-exhaust-pipe-and-similar-devices-on-all-types-of-motor-vehicles/

The point is, Renie Leaño's neighbors not withstanding, people do not like noise. The problem is that it is not so easy to file a complaint and when one is filed it takes a miracle for it to be acted upon. Renie has been complaining to the barangay for eight year to no avail until she took matters into her own hands. Now local officials are working with the DILG to address her concerns. 

So, good on her for drawing attention to this issue. Sometimes that is what it takes. 

Lawless Philippines: Motorcycle Helmets

Only in the Philippines does a law meant to protect the people end up hurting them.  Ok maybe not only in the Philippines. Criminals around the world use the law to their advantage. But in the Philippines it sometimes seems as if laws exist to protect criminals. In particular I am referring to the motorcycle helmet law.

This law was passed as a protective measure for motorcycle riders but assassins were able to get away with murder because the helmets masked their faces. This prompted several cites to pass laws banning the use of full-faced motorcycle helmets.

https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/issues/road-safety/173565-ban-full-face-motorcycle-helmets-morong-rizal

Motorcycle riders in the municipality of Morong, Rizal, are not allowed to wear full-face helmets and bonnets that conceal their faces, according to a memorandum order by Mayor Armando San Juan. 

The order, dated June 2, says: "Concealment of one's face while travelling and moving around our area of jurisdiction is subject to inspection of authorities in Morong, Rizal." 

According to municipal administrator Danilo Mendoza, the order is meant to protect the lives of the general public. He cited the death of barangay captain Roger Canios, who was shot in the head by an unidentified suspect who fled on a motorcycle. 

Wearing motorcycle helmets, Mendoza said, is becoming ironic because they are used to protect the safety not of the riders or the citizens but of the killers.  

Even if Republic Act 10054 or the Motorcycle Helmet Act of 2009 mandates all motorcycle riders to wear a standard helmet, Mendoza said that the helmets are being used to conceal both the identities of the riders and their intention of attacking public officials. 

(Here, the Mayor saw that, instead of protecting the people from accidents, which is the real purpose of [Republic Act] 10054, the helmets give protection to the criminals in doing their criminal acts.)

Ironic? Definitely. Here is the reasoning of the law.

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy ofthe State to secure and safeguard its citizenry, particularly the operators or drivers of motorcycles and their passengers, from the ruinous and extremely injurious effects of fatal or life threatening accidents and crashes. Towards this end, it shall pursue a more proactive and preventive approach to secure the safety of motorists, their passengers and pedestrians at all times through the mandatory enforcement of the use of standard protective motorcycle helmet.

https://www.senate.gov.ph/republic_acts/ra%2010054.pdf

Morong, Rizal is not the only city to have banned full-faced motorcycle helmets.

https://philippineslifestyle.com/dumaguete-city-to-ban-motorcyclists-from-wearing-bonnets-and-masks/

April will mark the month in which Dumaguete City will outlaw all motorists from wearing bonnets and masks. The law pertains to motorcycles but will also be enforced with drivers of automobiles as well. 

The law is to thwart robbers, killers and snatchers who conceal themselves before acting out their crimes.

The PNP lent their support to Mandaue's banning of full-faced motorcycle helmets.

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/422187

THE Mandaue City Government secured two high-profile supporters of its ordinance that prohibits motorcycle drivers from wearing bonnets, full-faced helmets, and masks when passing by the city. 

In an interview yesterday, Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said he favors Mandaue City’s measure because it will help authorities identify people who use motorcycles for various crimes. 

Supt. Reyman Tolentin, information officer of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7, said that enforcing the rule will help investigators do their jobs, and that he hoped other local government units, like Cebu City, will follow suit.

I am not certain at all how local laws can supersede national laws especially now in the new normal when everyone is required to wear a mask when out in public. It's not as if RA 10054 has any teeth though because the PNP does not enforce it. The cops are not patrolling the roads and pulling over helmet-less riders. Nor do the LTO officers standing around blowing whistles stop helmet-less riders. There are many riders without helmets.

What's worse is the fact that many young children are put in danger by their parents as they ride squished in-between mom and dad or right up front on the handlebars and with no helmet. But that's a law to feature another time in Lawless Philippines.

The Gory Philippine Media

God bless the Philippine media. I mean it. Really. The Philippine media does not sugarcoat reality. No, no. They show you just how it is.  Take this motorcycle accident.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1085373

It's just a regular motorcycle accident so who cares about the story? We have heard it all before. The picture of these two fools who did not wear helmets speaks a thousand million billion words.  Let me enlarge it for you.

The lesson, which no one is going to learn, is WEAR A HELMET!!! These guys might be alive if they had worn a helmet. Maybe not. A van sideswiped them sending them to their doom so the lesson also is STAY IN YOUR LANE!! 

Everyone in the Philippines is a bad driver. Everyone except Roland Quitevus who was given a medal by the Queen of England for his work as a chauffeur for the British Embassy. The baddest of all the bad drivers are the motorcyclists. They zoom in and out of traffic and into oncoming lanes and sometimes whole families with infants included are seeing riding together. Will seeing a photo like this help tame those morons? Of course not.

But it sure is a messed up and gory photo which no Western outlet would ever print!

The Death of Fernan Brillantes

I saw this banner not too long ago.

My first thoughts were that this man must have recently been shot by police officers who were called to quell a disturbance. All too often it happens that a mentally ill person is having difficulties, the cops are called, and the mentally ill person is killed.  That is not the case in this situation.

Digging a little further I came across two, and only two articles from Sunstar respectively dated July 28 and 29, 2015. 

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/22519/

The assailants were wearing helmets and jackets. They were aboard on motorcycle without plate number. 

Culanag said Brillantes, who underwent drug rehabilitation, has pending records at their station for alarm and scandal complaints. He was previously arrested for possession of illegal drugs. 

He said they could not yet determine the motive of the killing as they are still gathering evidences to identity the gunmen.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/22705/

Culanag said grudge is one of the possible motives in said incident. 

Two motorcycle riding gunmen shot and killed this man in cold blood as he was standing in front of his house. Why?  It's now three years later and no one has been arrested. No one has been brought to trial and even if they were the case would languish for years. Such is the normal course of justice in the Philippines.

A little searching for the hashtag #JusticeForDukeBrillantes reveals just a bit more about a possible motive.

Lighting our first candles on the spot where my cousin was shot and left a pool of blood. With prayers I call on our dear cousins and relatives to light a candle here every night and/or place flowers in memory of our fallen innocent family member. Dont hesistate to do so that others would see how somebody was murdered just because he is loud and boisterous, suffering from #schizophrenia. Palihog bulig pangamuyo sa katawhayan sang iya kalag, sa kapatawaran sg iya sala kag ang nakasala sa iya. Flowers and candles plus prayers please at the gate beside my clinic

It is not right to kill someone because some people think he is a public annoyance.

One year ago. I know the culprit is just around our community. KABALO KO ARI KA LANG DI KAG PAMILYA MO LAPIT SA AMON. AMBOT KUN MAY KUNSENSYA KA PA SA PAGPAPATAY MO KAY MANONG DUKE. SA GUN-FOR-HIRE NGA NAG TIRO SA IYA, KAMO NA ANG MADASUN MGA MASAPWAN SA KATUBUHAN!!! 

This last post from 2016 is the end of the trail. There are no more posts after this. 

It's clear to me that this family knows who killed Fernan. Or they have a strong suspicion of who it is but no definite proof. It appears that Fernan Brillantes was known in the neighbourhood for being loud and boisterous and a public annoyance. Perhaps he said or did something which angered somebody.

At the risk of trivialising this man's death and angering his family let me categorically state that the murder of Fernan Brilliantes by unknown motorcycle gunmen is simply a local tragedy within a much larger problem in the Philippines.

2011:

https://web.archive.org/web/20170402013021/http://www.interaksyon.com/article/22575/pnp-declares-all-out-war-vs--criminals-riding-in-tandem-on-motorbikes

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has declared an all-out war against gunmen riding in tandem on motorcycles and responsible for the murder of 2,089 persons in 2011 and counting. 

In 2011, the PNP recorded 1,700 crime incidents involving riding-in-tandem suspects with 2,089 victims. This is higher than the 1,565 incidents in 2010 with 1,819 victims.

2013:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/570697/riding-in-tandem-motorcyclists-committed-over-3000-crimes-in-metro-manila-in-2013-police

3,000 crimes just in Metro Manila.  None of this data is broken down so this does not mean 3,000 murders.

2017:

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/937451/pnp-drug-war-exit-killings-riding-in-tandem-motorcycle-riding-suspect-shooting-crime

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/632175/motorcycle-riding-gunmen-killed-125-in-less-than-a-month-pnp-data/story/

He said the motorcycle-riders have victimized a total of 363 people during the 29-day period. Of this figure, 125 people were killed. 

Marquez said police have arrested 64 motorcycle-riding suspects while 380 more are still at-large. 

Of these incidents, the police have declared only 45 as solved, 14 have been "cleared" and 267 are still under investigation.

The family should change their banner and slogan. "Schizophrenia is not a crime" is a non-sequitur. It also implies that if Fernan was guilty of a crime, say rape, that his murder would have been justified. Is the Brillantes family supportive of vigilante justice? The truth about Fernan's death is much more shameful.

This man's life was taken from him in the same way anyone would take the life of a roach or a mouse. Fernan was treated as less than a man and his life was not deemed worthy of value or respect in the eyes of his killers. He was seen as a problem to be gotten rid of and he was accordingly stamped out. Now he is dead and his exterminators remain at large and will likely never be brought to justice.

In the Philippines life is often not respected or valued and thus becomes cheap. The family's new slogan should be, "Schizophrenia does not make anyone less human."

Motorcycle Crash

Motorcycle crash!

What happened?  I don't know!  I can make an educated guess:

Motorcyclist with no lights on attempts u-turn and gets rammed by van who could not see him.  

These pictures anger me more than anything else. Such an accident is totally preventable. They weren't even wearing helmets. The passenger was alive but I don't know about the driver. I would be surprised if he made it seeing as he is stuffed under the van.

This is why PNP must patrol the roads and enforce safety laws. If they did this then people wouldn't ride around with no lights or no helmets. After passing this disaster scene I saw many more motorcycles and jeepnies and cars with no lights. 

Dying or being horribly injured while driving in the Philippines is a (preventable) tragedy waiting to happen.

This is What Happens When You Politely Ask Your Neighbour to Turn Down Their Karaoke

Today a neighbour celebrated his 60th birthday. By 9pm the party had been going on for 12 hours. I was headed to slumberland except for the loud music barring my entrance.  So I walked over to my neighbours house and politely asked them to turn down their karaoke so I could get some sleep.

Thirty minutes later this happens:

A loud motorcycle, a thrown bottle, and a kick at the gate to the house.  I got to the window just in time to see two men speed off.  I couldn't make out who they were but I knew where they came from.

Despite the people at the party admitting the thrown bottle came from them the police could do nothing because I could not identify the assailants.  But the police did admonish them to turn down their karaoke because they had received other complaints.

So this is where politeness gets you in the Philippines. 

Nowhere.

A Tale of Two Motorcycles

Motorcycles that pass at the intersection and speak each other in passing,

Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness;

So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another,

Only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.

               

                          - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It was the best of times to go out for a ride with the family,

it was the worst of times in that no one wore a helmet,

it was the age of wisdom in knowing you don’t need to wear a motorcycle helmet,

it was the age of foolishness in carrying your helmet on your arm instead,

it was the epoch of belief that you won’t crash and kill your family,

it was the epoch of incredulity that four people can safely fit on a motorcycle,

it was the season of Light so everyone can see how stupid both these families are,

it was the season of Darkness because everyone thinks this is normal and not dangerous,

it was the spring of hope that no crash would happen and God would protect them,

it was the winter of despair when they crashed and all their children’s heads split open like watermelons.

                                                                  - Charles Dickens