Anatomy Of A Road Accident: Philippines
Uh huh, when there's a road accident.., what do (we) Filipinos do?
Ninety-nine point ninety nine percent (99.99%) of the time.., we try to go as near the incident or scene as possible, do nothing but gawk, gawp or gape, with no intention, at all, whatsoever, to lend any help! Other than probably animatedly tell others there has been an accident - even if we don't know details!
Aminin yan! Osyoso, usisero, uzi!
Well, things changed a little bit in the 21st century. We all are now armed with gadgets of many kinds, that we use to take pictures, videos, even selfies of/at the scene and/or the personalities involved, be they known, unknown, popular or not, without care if we get in the way of responders to the accident!
Aminin!
It happened to me! Here's the story..,
On the way from Tacloban to Catbalogan, after I had fun watching kids jump from the Balugo Bridge.., we were nearing Jiabong town center, and strangely, traffic (on the national highway) literally stopped.
We waited, for what else could we have done, right? But this was severe, as this does not supposedly happen on the Maharlika Highway, in a remote rural town like Jiabong [pronounced hya-bong] Samar.
How severe was this traffic? Ah, the whole getting-longer line of vehicles moved forward by about 60 meters in 25 minutes! Take note, that is just meters, not kilometers. Must be something very serious.
Bored and restless, I got off the car and walked forward to see what might be causing this standstill..,
I told the driver I would hop in when this procession of vehicles start moving and catches up with me.
My goodness, until this time, I have never seen such a long line of stagnant vehicles in the provinces..,
The opposite lane was empty, that means the road was blocked at some point - that I thought should be my walk's destination. A man in a motorbike told me a truck flew off the road to some ditch/canal.
Then two other men (barangay tanod?) also came telling all drivers not to "counterflow" as both lanes could get jammed. Good they did so, because you know, Filipino drivers, they/you often do that, right?
Hmm, just like what I did, people started getting off their cars, vans, jeeps, buses, trucks to also walk!
Why so, what for and where to? Ah, just like me too, wala lang.., just going to see what the matter may be! Not that we were thinking nor qualified nor equipped to offer any help! Makiki-osyoso lang. Ganun!
After about a kilometer of walking (good that the road slopes downward hehe), I reached this point..,
From this area all the way back to where I came from, no vehicles were allowed to proceed. I noticed the accident happened somewhere behind that red truck, and traffic on that lane was also on hold.
But here, my inquisitive (a.k.a. atrevida) brain started churning.., what was this white truck doing, why was he not proceeding when his lane was free all the way to Tacloban? Maybe a colleague of the one (or more) involved in the accident? Maybe. Let's give this white truck the benefit of the doubt! Asuuus!
Now, what about that owner-type jeep behind the white truck, and it even faces the other way around? And what about that white Honda CR-V on the right lane? Why was it not proceeding on his lane which was also free? Both vehicles did not look "for official use" to me. Unless they are "for official use also"!
I walked on. See this photo, both owner-type jeep and Honda CR-V were gone. Therefore usisero lang!
At this point, I could already see that the red vehicle is a firetruck, the white (Ford Fiera?) has RESCUE marking, plus that other white vehicle behind it (and behind this Toyota) also has "wang wang lights". But why did the two dark vehicles (the Toyota at left and the one at right) have to stop? Uzi rin, ano pa!
And look at the people around (more at left)! They're like just watching a basketball game hahaha!
I walked to the left side - where the "action" was - OMG, more people (adults) even inside the school!
In my mind, why did they have to stop traffic on both sides when the accident was not on the highway anyway. The truck fell off the road, so the road was clear. Their rescue activity was down a ditch. Duh!
Soon these two men carrying an acetylene tank came out of the school. OMG, that was alarming!
No one told me so but I assumed they needed to torch-cut the truck to get people out. Tsismis na yan! Who knows, the two manongs may have just been done working on something inside the school. Aru!
No sooner than I reached the school fence, eto na.., look at the people inside and outside of the fence!
The/A victim from the truck being carried by rescue workers in orange suits. Again.., my assumption!
For some reason, I was not at all interested in seeing the victim/s but the faces of these people hehe!
Not just their faces, but even their actions. I was thinking.., what would we get out of watching that?
And here is the real scoop.., look very meticulously closely at all the people in this 'revealing' picture!
I can write a story even just from that picture.., especially the caring comforting hand of one 'pare ko'!
Ahahahaaaay ka-sweetest namanla eber! Aylabyu na parekoy!
Anyway.., the victim was already in that rescue van.., but people would even go and peep inside. Why?!
I wanted to pretend like I was from the media, and pursue each one of them who looked at the victim and ask them.., "me paryente ka bang truck driver? why do you need to see his face or condition, ha"?!
By the way.., see the picture above again.., there is now a policeman! Wow! How prompt!
But more and more people came crowding as the vehicle won't go yet. Why? Look closely, no driver!
I turned to the right and saw that they asked that yellow truck to pull its fellow truck from the ditch.
Can you see the wayward truck? Look left, between the running guy and the man in apple green shirt.
I stood a bit of time watching that pathetic "procedure". Good that the policeman kind of paused near me, so I casually said (in a resigned, defeated, crushed kind of tone - yes I can do that!) this means I'll only be able to reach Catbalogan late in the evening.., I won't be able to catch my grandma's birthday.
Mr. Policeman responded (yey) by asking me "kay-ano, sir" [that means "why, sir"]! So I said, the yellow truck cannot easily lift that thing as what he needs is an upward pull to bring the fallen truck up to the pavement. That horizontal pull, even if very strong, will only break something. He was listening to me!
Policeman asked if I was a bus passenger or with my own vehicle. Of course I told him that my driver was still more than a kilometer away, before Villa Teresita, in a very long line of many vehicles waiting.
Pa-humble epek! But in my mind I really wanted to say "punyeta kayo uunahin nyo pa ang truck na yan eh nakuha na naman yung driver, paano naman kaming mga naabala isang oras na hindi gumagalaw"!
It worked! I mean my pa-humble pa-kawawa effect. Without a word, policeman left me. Ayun sya o!
I heard him telling men down there to just secure that damn truck in place first, and that they can pull it up again later in the night or tomorrow morning when there is no more traffic. Pak! Boom! Success!
I have a video clip of the movements when they asked that truck to stop pulling. I'll put that here soon!
This is how that truck looked when Mr. Policeman told them to "cease and desist" with the pulling!
Who would have cared if that damn thing was up on the pavement or not, right? The very long lines of vehicles (both directions) needed to reach their/our destinations after more than an hour of standstill.
I really wanted to believe it was my "pa-humble epek" that activated this..,
I heard people clapping and shouting, and in no time, policemen were directing all vehicles to move!
Of course, all uziseros swiftly returned to their respective vehicles. Traffic (both ways) started moving!
As for me, I waited for my driver by this roadside. When he came by, I hopped-in and we proceeded!
But we saw this and realized, there was a longer queue of vehicles going in the direction of Tacloban!
Oh well, my beautiful country.., and WE the Filipinos! Exasperatingly maddeningly.., ALIW!
Ninety-nine point ninety nine percent (99.99%) of the time.., we try to go as near the incident or scene as possible, do nothing but gawk, gawp or gape, with no intention, at all, whatsoever, to lend any help! Other than probably animatedly tell others there has been an accident - even if we don't know details!
Aminin yan! Osyoso, usisero, uzi!
Well, things changed a little bit in the 21st century. We all are now armed with gadgets of many kinds, that we use to take pictures, videos, even selfies of/at the scene and/or the personalities involved, be they known, unknown, popular or not, without care if we get in the way of responders to the accident!
Aminin!
It happened to me! Here's the story..,
On the way from Tacloban to Catbalogan, after I had fun watching kids jump from the Balugo Bridge.., we were nearing Jiabong town center, and strangely, traffic (on the national highway) literally stopped.
How severe was this traffic? Ah, the whole getting-longer line of vehicles moved forward by about 60 meters in 25 minutes! Take note, that is just meters, not kilometers. Must be something very serious.
Bored and restless, I got off the car and walked forward to see what might be causing this standstill..,
My goodness, until this time, I have never seen such a long line of stagnant vehicles in the provinces..,
Then two other men (barangay tanod?) also came telling all drivers not to "counterflow" as both lanes could get jammed. Good they did so, because you know, Filipino drivers, they/you often do that, right?
Hmm, just like what I did, people started getting off their cars, vans, jeeps, buses, trucks to also walk!
After about a kilometer of walking (good that the road slopes downward hehe), I reached this point..,
But here, my inquisitive (a.k.a. atrevida) brain started churning.., what was this white truck doing, why was he not proceeding when his lane was free all the way to Tacloban? Maybe a colleague of the one (or more) involved in the accident? Maybe. Let's give this white truck the benefit of the doubt! Asuuus!
Now, what about that owner-type jeep behind the white truck, and it even faces the other way around? And what about that white Honda CR-V on the right lane? Why was it not proceeding on his lane which was also free? Both vehicles did not look "for official use" to me. Unless they are "for official use also"!
I walked on. See this photo, both owner-type jeep and Honda CR-V were gone. Therefore usisero lang!
And look at the people around (more at left)! They're like just watching a basketball game hahaha!
I walked to the left side - where the "action" was - OMG, more people (adults) even inside the school!
Soon these two men carrying an acetylene tank came out of the school. OMG, that was alarming!
No sooner than I reached the school fence, eto na.., look at the people inside and outside of the fence!
For some reason, I was not at all interested in seeing the victim/s but the faces of these people hehe!
And here is the real scoop.., look very meticulously closely at all the people in this 'revealing' picture!
Ahahahaaaay ka-sweetest namanla eber! Aylabyu na parekoy!
Anyway.., the victim was already in that rescue van.., but people would even go and peep inside. Why?!
By the way.., see the picture above again.., there is now a policeman! Wow! How prompt!
I turned to the right and saw that they asked that yellow truck to pull its fellow truck from the ditch.
I stood a bit of time watching that pathetic "procedure". Good that the policeman kind of paused near me, so I casually said (in a resigned, defeated, crushed kind of tone - yes I can do that!) this means I'll only be able to reach Catbalogan late in the evening.., I won't be able to catch my grandma's birthday.
Mr. Policeman responded (yey) by asking me "kay-ano, sir" [that means "why, sir"]! So I said, the yellow truck cannot easily lift that thing as what he needs is an upward pull to bring the fallen truck up to the pavement. That horizontal pull, even if very strong, will only break something. He was listening to me!
Policeman asked if I was a bus passenger or with my own vehicle. Of course I told him that my driver was still more than a kilometer away, before Villa Teresita, in a very long line of many vehicles waiting.
Pa-humble epek! But in my mind I really wanted to say "punyeta kayo uunahin nyo pa ang truck na yan eh nakuha na naman yung driver, paano naman kaming mga naabala isang oras na hindi gumagalaw"!
It worked! I mean my pa-humble pa-kawawa effect. Without a word, policeman left me. Ayun sya o!
I have a video clip of the movements when they asked that truck to stop pulling. I'll put that here soon!
This is how that truck looked when Mr. Policeman told them to "cease and desist" with the pulling!
I really wanted to believe it was my "pa-humble epek" that activated this..,
I heard people clapping and shouting, and in no time, policemen were directing all vehicles to move!
As for me, I waited for my driver by this roadside. When he came by, I hopped-in and we proceeded!
Oh well, my beautiful country.., and WE the Filipinos! Exasperatingly maddeningly.., ALIW!
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