No, I’m not talking about the segment in Jay Leno’s show. It relates to pedestrians and traffic. Jaywalking comes from the words “jay,” which refers to a foolish rural person unfamiliar with city ways, and “walk,” which means, well, walk. Jaywalking, which is the subject of local ordiances, is defined in Ordinance 95-01, as amended by MMDA Regulation No. 99-013, for all cities and municipalities of Metro Manila (again, without prejudice to local ordinances). It’s any of the following acts:
a). Crossing the street, thoroughfare or highway outside the marked cross-walk or pedestrian crossing, or underneath a pedestrian overpass, and in the absence of such mark, crossing the street, thoroughfare or highway except at the corner or intersection, as nearly as possible at the right angle perpendicular to the intersection.
b). Crossing the street, thoroughfare, or highway, even within the marked cross-walk or pedestrian crossing without conforming with the hand signal of the policemen or traffic enforcer assigned at the intersection or contrary to the signal by other devise for regulating traffic.
c). Walking outside the sidewalk of a street, thoroughfare or highway so as to inconvenience, obstruct, hinder or prevent free passage of vehicles.
d) Walking at the center island of a street, thoroughfare or highway so as to obstruct, hinder or prevent free passage of vehicles.
Self-explanatory, I believe, and for those who agree, let’s have a test. Under which acts listed above could we charge the pedestrians at the center island in this photo (near Munoz corner EDSA)?
To verify the answer, perhaps we could ask the MMDA officers, both those inside the van and on the motorcycle in this photo. If they answer, “Yes, they’re guilty of jaywalking,” the penalties range from a fine of P150, community service for 1 day, or, at the discretion of the court, an imprisonment of more than 3 days. Well, there are many “dead” laws. Perhaps laws on jaywalking are among the dead. Hindi totoo? Sige nga, sampol.
