I just find it funny that many cars posted online don’t seem to bear the rightful price for the vehicle. Why is it that an 18-year old two-door Civic still sells for Php 160k to 200k. I’ve seen ’93 Corollas still sell for 150k while their fair depreciated value would only be around 80k, perhaps 100k tops if it’s still well-maintained and bears low-mileage for its age.

Some would cite the number of modifications they’ve done to the car as the reason for the high pricing. Sure, modifications do cost money. An engine swap alone can set one back as much as 60k. However, modified cars, unless they’re modded by experts and if the owner keeps meticulous records, are migraines waiting to happen than prize catches.

You might be lucky if you find someone selling his modded car that’s only been used for “pang-porma” but chances are, the owner would probably have redlined it once or twice. As far as my experience goes, it’s always better to go with an all-stock car.

Still, it’s a challenge to find a second-hand car that’s been pretty well-maintained by the previous owner. I just can’t believe the prices that many sellers still set for their cars. I refuse to believe that cars have stopped depreciating since three years ago. Cars depreciate, you know.

For all our talent of making “sawsaw” to just about everything, I think motorsports is one area we haven’t really made any efforts in associating ourselves to. Formula One is just the largest motorsport in the whole world. We’ve been fielding athletes in the Olympics, so why aren’t we doing the same for F1? Malaysia is fielding a Formula One team next season and they’re practically in the same time zone as us.

Well, it’s easy to tell why we can’t.

One easy reason is that we really don’t have an automaking industry to speak of. Sure we make a hell of a lot of jeepneys and I know many people abroad envy that we have areas like Banawe and Evangelista to cater to tuners. But a homegrown automaker that invests on world-class research and development, production, and sales and marketing? None that I can think of. (Anyone knows if FMC is back on its feet or if A-Toys has finally got a crack at it?)

One of the biggest motivations for automakers to field teams is to make it a proving ground for car technology. Some would settle for the publicity the sport brings to the brand. Even with those perks, big names like Honda and BMW have quit F1. Toyota has been mulling quitting too. And these are established automakers that surely have enjoyed such perks. Unless we can find ways to slap on aerodynamics and KERS on owner-type jeeps to sell more of them…

So what about Malaysia? Well, even though Malaysia is part of the ASEAN (of which we are also part), the country is home to Proton which happens to own British sports car maker Lotus. Lotus currently makes few of the best-handling cars in the world (the Elise, Exige and Evora). Oh and they have Petronas too.

It requires a lot of resources to field an F1 team and Malaysia’s got the balls, the funds, the technical know-how, and the driving talent to support Lotus’ participation. Too bad, as Pinoys, we sure have bigger balls than any other nation and I’m sure we can find talent out there (given the number of un-Christian motorists out there), but not too much on the other stuff.

Given our economic outlook, spending at least $65 million on developing speedy cars for just one year is just plain indecent. And there’s other expenses like for travel, publicity, and the team. Mind you that the better F1 drivers get nearly as much as Manny Pacquiao’s net worth (which took him years to build) in just a year.

And the list can go on.

Sure we’ve got fellow Pinoys who are participating in other forms of motorsport in the region but nothing that comes close to something big as F1. And I’m positive we haven’t even participated in WRC, GT races, or even Le Mans.

I just hope to see a Filipino in F1 in my lifetime.

These days, I just don’t feel the need for speed whenever I’m out on public roads any more. I feel it’s just too unsafe and too immature to do those things on congested metro roads. I now follow a driving philosophy that I share with Top Gear’s James May – Christian motoring.

It’s simple really – try to be generally pleasant on the road. And no, I’m not trying to be a Jesus freak here. It doesn’t really include having a rosary draped on your rear-view mirror or having a Sto. Nino statue glued on your dash. More of the ethics than the organized religion.

Anyway, a few pros for being a Christian motorist is that you’re generally safer since following rules means you’re driving at prescribed safe speeds and yielding to people means less accidents. And pedestrians appreciate you.

The thing is, even with a population of 80% Catholic, we have the most un-Christian motorists in the whole world. Let me point out some of the un-Christian motoring habits by our fellow Pinoys. (Feel free to add some more in the comments.)

• Speeding and driving recklessly
• Overtaking aggressively (even in yellow or double yellow lanes)
• Not yielding to drivers’ and pedestrians’ with right of way
• Not letting other drivers change lanes even if given proper signals
• Swerving and excessively changing lanes (singit nang singit)
• Asserting right of way (complete with flashing headlamps)
• Convoys (Yes, this applies to you, politicos!)
• Stealing parking spaces or one-upping people for one
• Parking at reserved spaces
• Double-parking
• Blocking people’s driveways
• Honking at pedestrians
• Honking at law-abiding motorists
• Spraying pedestrians with rain water driving over puddles
• Revving their siento-bente (tunog siento, takbo bente) tailpipes even in quiet neighborhoods
• Turning their souped-up sound systems all the way up
• Catching up with drivers and threatening them

Too bad for us, Christian motorists since not doing all of these things make us doormats to those who do. And this basically is the con to being a virtuous driver. And it doesn’t really help if “Christian” also implies turning the other cheek. But who ever does? The philosphy only calls for being generally pleasant and not be a driving martyr. Now, if only I can find a way to send these un-Christian motorists to driving hell.

Motorists like me have learned to steer clear of these boys in blue. They seem to serve absolutely no other purpose than to hand out tickets to motorists erring or not. And they only seem to be around when the number coding scheme is in effect or during merienda time, otherwise they magically disappear.

Given our history of red tape, one of the most irritating things that a driver can experience on the road is to be apprehended by traffic cops and enforcers. For one, some of their charges are oftentimes absurd interpretations of traffic laws. As for MMDA traffic enforcers, I had more than one nasty encounter with them.

Here’s one instance. I was driving in one of the crazier areas of Quezon City (somewhere in the south triangle) and since I am not too familiar with the area and forgot my city atlas (a must-have for motorists) so I decided to pull over (carefully, signal lights and all) and ask one of them. I haven’t even rolled down my window when he whipped out his ticket book and started writing stuff on it. With my window down, I was then greeted with a smug, “Ser, lisensya niyo.”

It already took great humility in part as a manly man to ask for directions and the fellow returns my courtesy with a traffic ticket. In the days of old, I would have contented myself slapping that person’s face with my gloves and challenge him to a duel. But then again, those were the days of horse and buggy and traffic enforcers would’ve been more than pointless.

It’s a good thing that these MMDA boys get more than befuddled by a stream of polysyllabic words in English that he simply waved me off. And I never even got directions. Had I not been lucky that day, I would’ve gotten a juicy ticket. Rather than incovenience myself with contesting tickets with their so-called Traffic Adjudication Board, I would’ve paid. Because here’s what you have to go through to contest a citation:

1. File a written complaint with the TAB
2. Secure verification and clearance from data division to clear you from existing tickets
3. Hearing officer schedules hearing and both motorist and enforcer are summoned
4. Both parties are heard in the hearing
5. Protest to be decided through resolution
6. Head of TAB reviews and approves the resolution
7. If citation is upheld, motorist deals with the fine/sanction

Here’s a video to boot.

It’s nice to see that there’s a venue to contest such charges but easily that’s at least a couple of workdays lost if you decide to go through with it. And time is more than a luxury for the working Filipino. I have yet to meet someone who has gone through the process and succeeded.

On another instance, I got a ticket for “illegal parking.” Know that pink line along sidewalks? Apparently, they’d slap you with a violation even if only an inch of your bumper encroaches the pretty pink line. That time, there was no reasoning with the enforcer since the ticket was just left pinned under my windshield wiper. I just dropped by a Metrobank branch and paid the ticket. I just kept the payment stub and a photocopy for future reference.

Anyway, my point is, if there’s one thing that these enforcers should do is to direct traffic first, watch out for violators second. But I guess that’s why Mr. Fernando elected to call them “enforcers” and not “aides”.

Tough lab.

Image credit: MMDA