BAGUIO CITY – Cordilleran inhabitants “love affair” with motor vehicles is going strong and proving very contagious. Almost everybody – even those without a driver’s license – want to own a gas guzzler.
Motor vehicle ownership in Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) shows no sign of levelling off even after the dual oil shocks that occurred in 1973 and 1979.
Land Transportation Office (LTO-CAR) records show that as of 2018, CAR had 169, 234,000 registered motor vehicles. In 2017, it was 158,865,000, an increase from the previous number of 136, 684,000 units in 2016.
Two years and a quarter following the pandemic, LTO-CAR registered more than 40,000 motor vehicles in all the provinces of CAR, 20,429 units in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, 20, 328 motor vehicles in the succeeding year while 1, 739 units were registered in the first quarter of 2022.
In 2019, for example, LTO-CAR noted the number of registered motor vehicles in Baguio City rose to 57,600 compared to over 44,500 registered vehicles in 2017. Such unprecedented increase in the number of registered motor vehicles in Baguio City is the main footprint of the terrible traffic.
When Baguio residents consider that the city’s existing roads can only accommodate 10,000 to a maximum of 15,000 motor vehicles at any given time, the excess vehicles bursting the city main arteries is a daily experience that often than not, taxes to the hilt patience of the riding public which is already worn thin.
Baguio political leaders, in wanting to solve the traffic problem, has come up with a scheme to reduce traffic inside the city by offering a proposal of imposing a congestion fee in the amount of 250 pesos for vehicles entering the city.
Such proposal drew criticism by majority of residents who vehemently voiced their opposition, explaining it will only add another layer to their domestic expense burden, forcing city mayor Benjamin Magalong to reiterate that it is just a “proposal.”
Adamant residents heave with conviction that the congestion fee places unnecessary transportation expenses on community members without offering a sustainable solution to the city’s traffic problems.
And local political observers hint the damage is already done, with residents being pessimistic about the proposal. They are not biting it, hook, line and sinker.
In other words, they are not sold to the idea because during public consultations they attended, it was not consultation at all but merely a forum for information about the proposal.
They firmly believe it’s the obligation of the city government to ensure sustainable and effective traffic and transportation management by themselves and not to assign such serious responsibility to a private establishment. And that the congestion fee charge is no guarantee that it will solve the core traffic problem of the City of Pines.
These political observers feel there is a need for the political leaders to go back to the withdrawing board and come up with a better offer for residents otherwise these political leaders, whose tenure are up for grabs this coming election, may have their chances of being re-elected damaged, should they continue insisting on the traffic congestion fee.
One political observer, Atty. Joel Rodriguez Dizon, wrote by stating: “This congestion fee that is being rammed down the throats of Baguio residents and tourists alike is a prime example of governance by bullying.”
“All those public consultations conducted by the city government on this unpalatable component of this maliciously-named smart mobility program ostensibly to solve the traffic congestion problem are sham and meaningless,” Dizon continues.
“First of all, those public consultations did NOT ask the people of Baguio: Are you in favor of collecting a congestion fee to enter the central business district?” Dizon interposes.
“They merely INFORMED the people HOW it will be collected. The fact that it WILL be collected without the people agreeing to it was regarded as a GIVEN. You cannot change a given,” Dizon adds.
Cordillerans love affair with motor vehicles is by no means an accident. Instead, it reflects a serious push by motor vehicle manufacturers to change people’s psychology. And long before, manufacturers had to win the battle for the hearts and minds of every would-be buyer of a motor vehicle – whether such vehicles just came off the assembly line or is second-hand.
Worldwide, motor vehicle production in 2023 reached 93,546,599 units as gleaned from reports of the International Organization of Motor Vehicles Manufacturers. Of the 57 or so countries that produced motor vehicles, the Philippines ranked 37th, having assembled 110,350 units.
However, Filipinos prefer to buy motor vehicles produced by other countries.
Lure of owning a motor vehicle – and the status, mobility and better life that its possession appears to promise — seems irresistible everywhere in highland Cordillera. As soon as income allows, many highland dwellers accord priority to buying a motor vehicle.
On the other hand, there are many highlanders who, tongue-in-cheek, merrily state reasons why they would rather walk or take to public transport systems instead of pining for a motor vehicle.
Alexis Pumilho, from Baguio, retorts that for the 65 years of his retired life, he never thought of shedding cold cash to purchase a motor vehicle for he looks at it as a “liability.” But when asked by the Daily Laborer if he would gladly ride on the vehicles of his children, he smiled with devilish glee and answered, “Aaah, that, indeed, would be a luxury that I will not pass off so easily.”
Ramil Moyag, also from La Trinidad, defended his friend Pumilho by saying that owning a motor vehicle adds to fuel cost expense, or, “To fuel the motor vehicle’s wanderlust to satisfy its fuel thrills” was Moyag’s exact words.
Their third friend, Rodante Sagun, from Kibungan and who owns a truck, spoke about vehicle maintenance liability that include oil change, fluid and belt inspection, tire change, filter change, battery and spark plug replacement, among others.
Their fourth friend, Allan Abraham, a mestizo who hails from Mangkayan, and who also believes owning a motor vehicle is a liability, spoke about toll fees and parking. He emphasized that nowadays, one just cannot leave his/her motor vehicle parked besides road shoulders else the police will issue violation tickets.
Nodding in agreement, Moyag then added that to own a motor vehicle, one must ensure its insurance. And a motor vehicle insurance may cost from 12,000 to over 20,000 pesos a year.
And over time, a motor vehicle depreciates, resulting in loss of investment for owners, the three friends said in unison.
On the upside, the three friends explained having a motor vehicle gives owners convenience and flexibility, a must for emergency situations, used for transporting goods and for business and enhancing connectivity.
Allure of motor vehicle culture seems unstoppable, everywhere on the globe, too. In 1987, a record 126,000 vehicles rolled off the assembly lines each working day. Today, however, roughly 1.2 billion vehicles operate on the planet every day.
For the Filipinos, they have gone so far after having stepped out of the horse-drawn carriage and boarded a four-wheeled motor vehicle.
Safe to assume that the Philippine’s automobile industry started during the American colonial period. Old folk highlanders recalled to Daily Laborer that among the first motor vehicles that lorded over highlander roads were American vehicles like Ford, Dodge, Mercury, Buick and Chevrolet.
By the 1960s, however, Japanese brands were a common sight on Cordillera roads. These vehicles were known for practicality and fuel economy, causing the American vehicles to lose popularity.
But massive reliance on motor vehicles could even undermine the convenient transportation that it was meant to provide. For one, the motor vehicle industry’s apparent success in dealing with the challenges of the 1970s has also obscured the adverse long-term trends that motor vehicle-centered transportation has been creating.
Rising gasoline and diesel fuel consumption has put increased pressure on oil production capacities and supply reliance today has been shifting from the Middle East towards other oil- producing countries.
Additionally, as more and more people in Cordillera can afford to own motor vehicles, congestion becomes an intractable problem. Motor vehicles are an important source of air pollution that now plagues places in CAR and takes an uncounted toll on human lives. While pollutants from these contribute to formation of acid rain and global warming.
Hence, the need for a fundamental re-evaluation of the role motor vehicles play in society. Better fuel economy, alternative fuels, extended mass transport systems – and not insertion of congestion fee in a multi-billion-peso plan to overhaul Baguio City’s entire traffic and public transportation system — can be among policy measures that can be considered by political leaders.
Traffic congestion not only in Baguio City but for the rest of CAR influences economy and environment due to its manifold interactions with economic, social and environmental issues. Traffic-flow management and emission control form a significant part of sustainable transport which demands the need to delicately handle the issue of urban mobility and climate change, as well.
Therefore, there is a need to study very closely what is truly and indigenously needed for the traffic woes of Baguio City and which will be generally accepted by residents.
There is this humor coming from the assembly line of jokes of the Kankana-ey tribe in accepting a certain type of motor vehicle. When a prospective suitor asks for the hand of a maiden, the Kankana-ey parents would usually ask the suitor, “Ay wadan Elf mo?” (Do you have an Elf truck?).
If the suitor has an Elf, chances are, his prospect of winning the maiden’s hand greatly improves.
If he doesn’t have an Elf truck, his proposal — just like the traffic scheme proposal being offered by Baguio political leaders to residents — might be thumbed down.
