Conscience

Today, a new traffic rule was imposed along Commonwealth Avenue. Monickered "The Avenue of Death" by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) due to the numerous, usually fatal accidents occurring in the thoroughfare, motorists now cannot exceed the speed of 60kmh. Yellow lanes for public utility vehicles are now being monitored by traffic enforcers, and those caught violating the rules will be penalized in varying degrees.

The imposition of the new rule predictably brought about heavier than usual traffic. But the traffic I experienced earlier wouldn't compare to the traffic caused by another horrifying incident inside familiar territory.

This two in the afternoon, a north-bound passenger bus journeying Edsa was vehemently rapt by a localized explosion. As the bus approached Buendia Station, the middle section of the bus suddenly burst into a deafening blast, shattering the windshield and windows of the bus. The explosion tore a gaping hole at one side of the vehicle, and instantly claimed the life of a female passenger. Another victim, an aged man, would soon perish at a nearby hospital, while eighteen others were treated for various injuries, ranging from minor to life-threatening. According to the conductor of the ill-fated bus, the tragedy would have been worse if not most passengers alighting at Ayala Station.

Reports say that a bomb was the cause of the explosion.

As these kinds of events occur, I ask myself how the doers of these horrible crimes sleep at night. I cannot sleep well thinking about something trivial I might have done during the day, but that deed of mine is nothing compared to this senseless loss of life.

There were bones and flesh in the pavement. A bloodied body was still there.

Sadly, those people don't have a conscience to be bothered by that image.