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.

Another Spaghetti Wire-Related Road Accident.

The dangerousness of low hanging spaghetti wires has manifested again this time in Manila. A truck ran into some wires causing two telephone posts to fall over. 

https://mb.com.ph/2024/5/11/2-telco-posts-in-manila-fell-due-to-passing-truck

Two posts of a telecom company fell after a passing truck hit cables on Ronquillo Street in Sta. Cruz, Manila, Saturday morning, May 11, the Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau (MTPB) said.

Due to the incident, authorities closed a portion of Ronquillo Street to motorists.

They advised motorists to take alternate routes.

Reports said the passing truck hit the cables, pulling down the two posts.  

MTPB chief Dennis Viaje said that linemen had been dispatched to the area to clean up the hanging cables.

Meanwhile, some telecom companies said they are willing to help replace the affected poles to restore the operation of the damaged lines. 

Well, thank goodness the telecom companies "are willing to help replace the affected poles to restore the operation of the damaged lines." After all, they are responsible for the wires and the poles. Thankfully no one was hurt but this accident is only one of many happening nationwide. Just this past February Senator Raffy Tulfo was pushing for an investigation into the prevalence of accidents caused by spaghetti wires. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1899998/raffy-tulfo-wants-probe-into-road-accidents-due-to-spaghetti-wires

Senator Raffy Tulfo has sought an investigation into the alarming surge in road accidents caused by hazardous dangling live cable wires over the streets, or the so-called spaghetti wires.

He filed Senate Resolution (SR) No. 922, citing the receipt of several complaints through his public service program.

“Victims of accidents caused by live cable wire mishandling often face significant challenges in pursuing recourse against the negligent parties. The difficulties faced by these victims hinder their ability to seek justice and fair compensation for injuries, fatalities, and property damage resulting from such accidents,” Tulfo said in his resolution.

The senator emphasized the need to summon electric and telephone companies and other entities managing live cable wires.

He also noted the need to review the charter and mandate of certain government agencies, such as the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and Department of Public Works and Highways, as well as local government units, including city engineering offices and other similar offices and agencies, to ensure the proper discharge of their tasks to keep Filipinos safe.

In a privilege speech on January 31, Tulfo fumed over the nuisances caused by what he described as “black spaghetti wires.”

According to him, these “entangled, voluminous, and eyesore” cables pose a real danger to the public.

He also said in his speech that the wires appear to be mostly from utility companies involved in telecommunication, including internet service providers and electricity distributors.

How is it that everyone knows these dangling wires pose a danger to the public and yet nothing is done about them? Sure there have been clean-up drives in several cities but the mess remains. Officials act like nothing can be done about them but that is not the case. If you Google Philippines spaghetti wire clean up there are many articles about LGUs giving ultimatums to telecoms to get rid of the wires or else. Such threats may work briefly but more must be done. 

What will it take for anyone to really care about this issue? More accidents? Deaths? This issue of dangerous, dangling wires is one more reason why, despite the desire to be like Singapore, the Philippines remains far behind in terms of being a safe modern nation.

Dangerous Spaghetti Wires Are A Nationwide Problem

Much like electric poles blocking roads dangerous  spaghetti wires are a nationwide problem. While they are certainly less deadly than unmoved electric poles sitting squarely in the middle of roads they are unsightly and do pose potential problems. Several cites have begun the arduous task of untangling and removing those wires.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1188937

Some 44 tons of old and unused telecommunication (telco) wires mounted along the city’s major roads have been removed from July to November this year to clear the hazards and nuisance in public pathways, data of the Task Force Spaghetti Wires on Friday showed.

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said the “spaghetti” wires were brought to the stockyards of the telco companies and these can be endorsed to the city through a deed of donation.

The collected wires will be donated to the farmers in Barangay Alangilan to be used as trellises in vegetable production.

Last July, Benitez issued Executive Order (EO) No. 3 for the removal, clearing, and reorganizing of all “spaghetti” wires located in the main streets, sidewalks, alleys and public places.

44 tons of spaghetti wires have collected in five months. In Mandaue City 700 kilograms of spaghetti wires have been collected since September.

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/475097/mandaue-city-collects-700-kilograms-of-dead-wires

About 700 kilograms of “dead” wires were collected from the wire clearing and bundling operation of Mandaue City and telecommunication companies.

Engineer Marivic Cabigas, head of the Department of General Services (DGS) on Wednesday, November 16, said that 9 mini dumptrucks of dead wires were collected since the start of the operation in September wherein each truckload weighs about 75 kilograms.

Engineer Lee Naya, DGS Building Maintenance, said that the wires were temporarily stored at the city’s old dump site in Barangay Umapad.

Assistant City Administrator Architect Florentino Nimor said that dangling wires in the city’s major intersections that were blocking the view of CCTV cameras were already cleared and bundled.

Nimor said their operation will now focus on the streets located at the city’s core.

Currently, they are clearing the dangling and spaghetti wires along A. Del Rosario St. and will be clearing the dangling wires along S.B Cabahug next.

Nimor said they may ask the telecommunication companies to possibly provide additional personnel to expedite the clearing operation.

The city government is providing most of the infrastructure support when it comes to equipment and logistics with boom trucks and assistance to ensure there will be no obstruction during the operation.

They mayor should not be considering to ask telecommunications companies to provide personnel. He should be DEMANDING that they do so and that they provide all equipment and cover the cost since these wires belong to them. It is Globe, PLDT, and other private companies who have left these unused wires to rot overhead. 

Cebu has been steadily clearing spaghetti wires since typhoon Odette hit. The goal is to remove all wires by December, 2022. Telecommunications companies say they will pitch in and help.

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1943155/cebu/local-news/telcos-back-december-target-to-get-rid-of-spaghetti-wires

CEBU City Councilor Jerry Guardo said the challenge of Mayor Michael Rama to eradicate all “spaghetti wires” in the city by December is “doable,” and the country’s top telecommunication firms offered support to meet this goal.

During a meeting with the city’s Technical Infrastructure Committee on Monday, Oct. 10, 2022, Rama expressed his disappointment over the entangled wires that can still be seen in the city.

Rama himself had sustained a forehead injury after bumping into a dangling wire while walking, the City’s Public Information Office said.

Currently, there is only one team that handles the removal of the dangling and idle wires, he said.

Guardo added that to achieve Rama’s goal, two more teams will be deployed to cover the city’s northern, central and southern areas.

The councilor clarified that the city’s spaghetti wire eradication program started right after Typhoon Odette (Rai) hit Cebu on Dec. 16, 2021.

City Hall is not spending government funds on this initiative since the clearing operation is part of the telecommunication companies’ (telcos) corporate social responsibility.

In separate statements sent to SunStar Cebu Tuesday, PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom said they are coordinating and supporting the goal of the Cebu City Government to remove all spaghetti wires.

Cathy Yang, PLDT and Smart Corporate Communications Group head, said their company has been in constant coordination with the Cebu City Government to clean up dangling wires throughout the city.

Patrick Gloria, Globe’s director for external affairs-Visayas and Mindanao, said they support Rama’s timeline of removing all spaghetti wires by December 2022 to ensure public safety.

Gloria added that they would also like to call for a “concerted effort among key stakeholders, including all telco, electric and cable operators in the city to ensure the success of the mayor’s vision.”

Quennie Bronce, Visayan Electric’s reputation manager, said their electric wires do not contribute to the spaghetti wires.

To get a sense of how enormous this problem is in 2018 Cagayan de Oro removed 238 KILOMETERS of spaghetti wires. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1057698

A total of 238 kilometers of dead wires and cables were untangled and cleaned up by the city's Task Force "Hapsay Kable (cables in order)" throughout the year of 2018 or an additional of 104 more kilometers since its last report in June.

According to Teodoro Buenavista Jr., vice chairperson of the Task Force and Regional Director of National Telecommunications Commission in Region 10 (NTC-10), there were also 69 poles that were "retired" and another 108 alley arms removed.

To put that in perspective that is roughly the distance from Manila to Baguio!

The unanswered question no one seems to want to ask is how did this happen? How did Globe and PLDT cause this nationwide problem? Through years of neglect. Even though these wires pose a grave threat to the public some people choose to ignore the danger.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/metro/686406/tangled-wires-threat-to-safety-eyesore-in-some-parts-of-metro-manila/story/

The cable wires, many hanging loosely, from street posts pose as serious threats to the safety of pedestrians and residents in some parts of Metro Manila.

In an episode of GMA News TV's Brigada, Cesar Apolinario reported about the situation in Isla Puting Bato in Tondo, Manila where electric cable wires are obstructing the way.

"Our residents here are really struggling because first of all, of course, the security of the people who live here, because it's like that, it's really low," said Rebecca Sanchez, a ward leader in the area.

The wires have gone down below their original installation height after some residents tampered with them when they encountered electrical problems, she added.

A 68-year-old carpenter living in the compound almost lost his life after the roof of the "kiliglig" vehicle he was riding got entangled with the drooping wires.

"The driver stopped because the electricity would be cut off. If he continued, the electricity would be cut off, we would be dead," the victim Roberto Aday said.

On the other hand, this danger does not seem to bother the residents of Barangay Damayang Lagi in Quezon City where convoluted electric cable wires also abound.

They casually hang their clothes on the wires.

"When we were hanging inside the house, there wasn't much sun, then when we cooked, we smelled what we were cooking, so why are we hanging here because it's sunny," resident Lorna Danes said.

Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga warned the public against this practice.

"Let's not do that, especially since we cannot mix electricity with water, so if the clothes are wet and you hang them, it's a live wire, you might have an accident. It's more likely than not, so let's just avoid it," he said.

Zaldarriaga also noted that not all these wires are from the electric company. Some, he said, are used for telecommunication, cable and internet connections.

"First of all, there is a difference in height. The Meralco lines stand alone 25 feet. Usually the attachments are around 15 feet, so you can really see the difference," he added.

Meanwhile, a concerned netizen also uploaded a video of a footbridge affected by the same problem.

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) spokesperson Celine Pialago said the said overpass was supposed to be closed to the pedestrians due to pending removal of the wires.

Some people, however, have managed to illegally pass through it, she added.

Authorities have already taken action to make the footbridge safely passable.

Aside from posing threats to safety, the tangled wires also serve as "eyesores," according to urban planner, Architect Felino Palafox Jr.

"The cables, overhead wires, visual pollution, eyesore, it's not good to look at, so the urban landscape is destroyed. It's not safe because during storms and typhoons, they get cut, it falls to the ground, so sometimes it hits houses. It's really dangerous," he said.

He suggested the use of submarine quality cables that would be installed underground and could withstand flooding.

Palafox said that stronger political will of the national and local officials is needed to implement such a shift.

Some from the electric power industry, on the other hand, pointed out that this proposal would entail additional costs to customers.

"At the end of the day, you also have to be cognizant of what the consumers will be able to afford," Zaldarriaga said.

Installing all cables underground would effectively end the problem of dangling wires. However, in Cebu City such has been the law since 2001!

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1845650/cebu/local-news/imminent-danger-revives-call-to-untangle-spaghetti-wires

THE Cebu City Council has renewed its call for utility firms to get rid of dangling “spaghetti wires” along roads.

Councilor Antonio Cuenco delivered a privilege speech on the matter last Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020.

“I am alarmed that several electric posts with matching dangling spaghetti wires are hanging all over our city. Clearly, this is an imminent danger to public safety, an accident just waiting to happen,” said Cuenco.

The official wants to know why utility firms in the city still failed to comply with a local law requiring them to place underground all utility lines to address the problem.

City Ordinance (CO) 1894 approved on April 25, 2001 requires all public utilities to transfer their overhead utility cables underground. It was penned by Councilor Nestor Archival.

CO 1894 provides for the medium-term objective of implementation of the underground installation of utility lines five years after the approval of the law. The long-term objective is the mandatory grounding of all utility lines within 10 years after approval of the ordinance.

The same ordinance penalizes the president and/or general manager of the company that violates its provisions. The year 2012 marked the 10th year of the local law.

Spaghetti wires along roads, though, remain an “eyesore” nearly two decades since the passage of the legislation.

Archival said because utility firms failed to comply, former mayor Tomas Osmeña introduced a color-coding scheme instead to address the problem of unsightly, dangling wires.

The scheme was established as a temporary solution, which allowed utility firms to fix tangled wires immediately since the cables’ colored tags made it easier for them to identify.

What is the good of having laws no one will follow or enforce? Instead of introducing a color coding scheme Osmeña should have begun fining companies whose wires remain overhead in defiance of the law. Much more than political will is needed to solve this problem. Telecommunication firms need to realize their obligation towards the public and implement safety practices which would entail removing dead wires. But we all know that's not going to happen. Even if Cebu does remove all the dead wires by December, without true reform they will only be facing the same problem in a few years. Same for Bacolod and Manduae. 

2GO Cargo Truck Hits Low Hanging Power Lines

I was walking along and heard a noise. Lo and behold a huge cargo truck ran into a problem when it got snagged in some low hanging power lines. This event is the culmination of many things that have been documented on Philippinefails. That includes dangerously low hanging power lines and bad traffic. In this instance a cargo truck decided to take a detour through a narrow neighborhood street instead of navigating the proper route along all the busy roads. In the process the truck got entangled in some low hanging power lines.

I regret not taking a video but these pictures do tell the whole story. The truck got caught in the wires, one of the guys with the truck climbed on top and without gloves or any PPE removed the wires, and then the truck drove off. The wires also fell on a taxi which pulled forward so that the wires fell off. Imagine if the wires had been hot and he was electrocuted! Imagine if the entire truck had become electrified!

Everything about this situation is messed up but that is the Philippines. Maybe 2GO will be held accountable. Probably not and that is not the point of this post anyway. The point is to document Philippine fails and this is a doozy!

These pictures were taken on a Wednesday.  On Saturday I returned to see the aftermath and much to my surprise the wires had been lifted off the ground and placed back in the sky.

Maybe it's hard to tell but the wires are still hanging low. While that is a problem in and of itself the problem is exacerbated by any high clearance cargo trucks which might try to cut through this area. No cargo trucks should be cutting down this narrow lane in the first place. But every driver in the Philippines is looking for a shortcut.