Thursday, August 23, 2007 Wenceslao: Bikes and robberies By Bong O. Wenceslao Candid Thoughts
OUR neighbor Renato got his motorcycle in 2005.
The move greatly enhanced his mobility, as he no longer had to ride on passenger vehicles daily from Minglanilla to the naval facility in Lapu-Lapu City where he works. Now he just gets on his motorcycle and drives through the South Road Properties where the air is cool and the ride is unimpeded.
My brother Maning bought his motorcycle a bit earlier, something I initially did not give much thought of. But now I am beginning to see the wisdom of the decision. With his motorcycle, he has cut travel time from Cebu City to Astur-ias where he lives by passing through the Transcentral Highway. Only more expensive V-hires use the route.
With China-made products competing with those from Japan, the motorcycle market is somehow glutted, depressing prices and with dealers providing easy acquisition terms. This is the reason why despite the flood of multicabs, the motorcycle business still thrives, although it is no longer the monopoly of the Honda and Yamaha brands.
I would have wanted to buy a motorcycle through installment because that is the only way I can enhance my mobility (I don`t have money to acquire those four-wheeled vehicles). But my wife Edizza frowns on it because she does not like riding motorcycles. She just had enough of stories about motorcycle-riding people meeting accidents.
Motorcycles, though, function in other ways. They have become the vehicle of choice of vigilantes, hired guns and robbers. The same logic applies: mobility and cost. You invest in less for better precision in hit-and-run operations. And there’s a plus: the helmet requirement for bike drivers provides a legal way of hiding one’s appearance.
The robbery on Peninsula Rural Bank in Mandaue City the other day illustrates this point. The entry was easy and the escape swift. I can enumerate other examples on this use of bikes: robbery in front of La Nueva Supermart, killing of more than a hundred former Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center inmates, robberies on the streets, etc.
I don’t know why authorities are not doing something about this. The most visible efforts are those limp checkpoints that have yet to produce results in terms of deterring the operation of motorcycle-riding criminal elements. I say the most unfortunate thing in battling criminality is when those concerned do nothing about the obvious.
