40 years on our roads and have we really moved?
I was asked to give my thoughts on the 40 years of the transportation industry in the Philippines. So, my thought process went to, what was on the road 40 years ago? And then I realized something really interesting.
You know what was on the road 40 years ago? The seeds of revolution. 40 years ago, we were getting fed up. 40 years ago, we were surrounded by violence and poverty and corruption. By a sense of hopelessness. 40 years ago, we had badly controlled smoke-belching diesels and unsafe public transport. We had Jeepneys and motorcycles and tricycles, and we were pushed aside by politician and wealthy people in cars with sirens and lights that we had no idea how to decide if they were legitimate or not.
So, let’s go from there and look at where we are today. In terms of cars back then, we had Opels and even some of the Holdens from Australia still around. Toyota as Delta Motors was moving out. Mitsubishi was still holding onto us, and for that, we are extremely thankful. And let’s look at now. Now, we have a whole slew of vehicles from different places. We have a lot of car companies from China that are coming in, and we see a range of excellent world-class products all the way down to some of them that aren’t that great. But we do see improvement. Now, it is true that even the China authorities themselves have taken to task some of these brands for dumping products globally, which is not good for the industry. And some of the companies that are making big claims are exactly the ones that are being chastised and penalized. So what’s happening there is that authorities are raining in which is bad for their people and their industry. And that’s a great thing isn’t it?
In general, the cars are potentially much safer than ever before. New cars have more safety systems than ever. They are generally more efficient. And this comes at the cost of complication, so it’s not as easy for us to maintain our cars. And yet, we as a country still keep cars around for a very long time.
Of late, what we’ve seen is, unfortunately, some of the great cars and car brands we love being hauled into public attention, because they were purchased by people who effectively chose their wealth over our own country’s growth, and indeed survival. So, what do we see on the road that’s different? We see new cars and safer cars, but they’re still driving through the streets where we have beggars and thieves. We have great technologies in our cars and in our houses, but we still can’t give a proper future to a lot of the country.
I love the fact that we have vehicles that are safer, and our children are safer. But I’m disappointed by the fact that less and less people have a love for the car itself. Having said that, maybe that really is a way forward for most people. If we look at the urban centers that we hold in high regard, they all have excellent public transport. But then, they also have leadership that prizes people their over everything else.
Interestingly, now more than ever, we’re connected to so many other different parts of the world. We have good relationships in general with the United States, and with Europe, and with Southeast Asia, and with China. And I truly believe that these are all important. What’s sad is that, once again, we need to look outwards to help those that are still here. So, while we see all these wonderful cars, and all these wonderful technologies on our roads, we are also seeing what we saw 40 years ago. And 40 years ago, what did that drive us to?
Besides, of course, the Philippine Daily Inquirer itself.
