Aretha Franklin spelled it right: R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
Now if only our motorists were aware of what that word could mean to the country’s economy.
“Lack of respect and road discipline among Filipinos has resulted in the country losing an average of PHP140 billion each year to road traffic or more than PHP2 trillion in the last 14 years,” reports Paul Gutierrez on People’s Journal.
Citing two oft-mentioned studies, Brian Galagnara, president of RED advocates, said the losses almost equaled the value lost to government corruption. The PHP140 billion estimate factors in wasted fuel and electricity, lost time, and additional man hours, as well as indirect effects such as lost potential foreign investments and missed business opportunities.
The 1999 study of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency found that Metro Manila traffic caused the economy to lose PHP140 billion annually. A separate University of the Philippines study estimated that the country lost PHP1.5 trillion due to traffic from 2001 to 2011.
So how do we stop the financial bleeding? Galagnara said their group, which means Respect Equals Discipline, seeks to “foster discipline by emphasizing respect for others.”
