What do young solons think of 'bawal wang-wang 2.0?'
At A Glance
- House members belonging to the so-called "Young Guns" have expressed their support for President Marcos' order that banned the use of sirens or blinkers ("wang-wang") on government officials' vehicles.
- Marcos' anti-wang-wang directive--reminiscent of the one imposed by the late former president Benigno S. Aquino III--was spelled out in Administrative Order (AO) No. 18.
From left to right: "Young Guns" members Reps. Migs Nograles, Zia Alonto Adiong, and Pammy Zamora (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)
House members belonging to the so-called "Young Guns" have expressed their support for President Marcos' order that banned the use of sirens or blinkers ("wang-wang") on government officials' vehicles.
Hailing the directive in a joint statement Friday, April 12 were Reps. Migs Nograles (PBA, Party-list), Jil Bongalon (Ako Bicol Party-list), Pammy Zamora (Taguig), Zia Alonto Adiong (Lanao del Sur), Paolo Ortega (La Union), Jay Khonghun (Zambales), and Cheeno Miguel Almario (Davao Oriental).
Marcos' anti-wang-wang directive--reminiscent of the one imposed by the late former president Benigno S. Aquino III--was spelled out in Administrative Order (AO) No. 18. It covers all elected and appointed officials, except those authorized to use such devices.
“This administrative order is very laudable, especially since we all know, and we have all not been oblivious to the fact that some of our government officials have indeed been abusing the use of these sirens and blinkers,” said Nograles, a lawyer and a House deputy majority leader.
Bongalon, a House assistant majority leader, reckoned that AO No.18 “simply means no less than the President is leading by example to all government officials and employees".
“President Marcos is sensitive enough to what our people on the ground feel whenever officials use these blinkers. Obviously, the President takes offense that some people in government have that some kind of privileged mentality. And he acted on it right away,” Bongalon said.
Zamora concurred with Nograles and Bongalon. “We’re on the right path. It may always be a cliché to invoke, rather repeatedly, the line no one is above the law, but in truth and in fact, that should always be the case.”
“It’s actually a shame that they have been doing this for a long while now. It’s about time we do this again,” said Zamora, who added this should be the “standard,” and not the other way around.
For his part, Adiong said: “The issuance of this AO No.18 is just right. We really have to follow this, and keep this in mind because we should be role models to the public in general.”
Another Young Gun in Ortega chimed in: “This is a step on the right direction. I think it’s very annoying to see these officials use these sirens and blinkers with impunity, as if they are entitled and can always get away with it."
Khonghun also commended Marcos for the directive. “There simply cannot be chaos or disruptions in our thoroughfares only because some public officials feel that they have all the right to squeeze in through traffic. This is just unacceptable," he noted.
Almario, in the same statement, said he "applauds PBBM (President Bongbong Marcos) for his initiative".
“It doesn't make sense to break laws as a lawmaker. If I have to go through the heavy traffic of EDSA, I leave earlier than expected to get to where I need to be on time. If time doesn't permit, then at least we are aware of what needs to be fixed in our traffic schemes.
"We as lawmakers have to also immerse ourselves in what everyone is experiencing to know what policies are bent, broken, and doing well. We are citizens first after all," Almario said.
Despite their youth, the Young Guns have been among the more level-headed commenters in the House on various national issues.