A traffic safety expert of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) is not amused by the new “gimmick” apparently of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) naming U-turn slots to “LIKUAN U”— read as Lee Kuan Yew, referring to the famous Prime Minister of Singapore.

LTO Traffic Safety Division Chief Daisy Jacobo said the “LIKUAN U” sign for the U-turn slot found underneath the EDSA-Kamuning flyover should be dismantled immediately because it “endangers the lives of motorists” passing through that portion of the highway “LIKUAN” in Filipino means “turning point.”

In the signboard placed on top of the regular MMDA U-turn slot signage, “LIKUAN U” is printed in red and printed in black underneath it is “LEE KUAN YEW”--- the famous leader who transformed Singapore into an economic superpower and with whom the MMDA’s top official, Bayani Fernando, loves to liken himself.
Fernando, who has been very vocal about his desire to run for President in next year’s elections, has been saying that he is the Lee Kuan Yew of the Philippines for “having a political will.”

Jacobo said the “LIKUAN U” sign is a “sick humor” and “should be removed before it can even cause damage and hurt people.” “We should not tinker with the lives of people in the name of wisecrack.

This is sick humor. The joke is meant to be ‘funny sick’ and not ‘funny humorous.” It’s not ‘funny haha’ but ‘funny absurd’,” Jacobo told the Manila Bulletin in an interview.

The affected EDSA portion Jacobo said, is already a “magnet for accidents” for allowing triple traffic counterflows – first from vehicles coming from East Avenue, second from those coming from Timog Avenue, and third from the provincial buses from the unloading zone situated underneath the flyover.

“If you are not into it, you will not get it. It’s not funny. It can hurt people as it could result in confusion on the part of the driver. The driver’s mind should focus on his driving and not on processing what “LIKUAN U’ means,” Jacobo said.

Jacobo said such “poor regulatory sign defies standards or road traffic signs” which is clarity and that it should command respect. “Road traffic signs should have a clear message, easily understood, and regulates, warns, and guides traffic. Not like LIKUAN U, PED XING or whatever,” Jacobo said referring to another road traffic sign which not many know is a shortened “Pedestrian Crossing.”

Noting the importance of road traffic signs in guiding motorists, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) had earlier sounded alarm over the proliferation of political billboards and tarpaulins which overwhelm such signs.

DoTC Undersecretary Thompson Lantion, who also acts as the spokesperson of the department, asked the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to include in its drive against dangerous billboards, those posters of politicians that block road traffic signs.