SUPORTADO ng hindi bababa sa pitong kongresista, na inilarawan ng liderato ng Kamara de Representantes at tinawag ng kanilang mga kasamahan na “Young Guns,” ang utos ni Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr. na pagbawalan ang mga opisyal ng gobyerno na gumamit ng blinker at sirena sa kanilang mga sasakyan.

Pinuri nina Reps. Migs Nograles (PBA, Partylist), Jil Bongalon (Ako Bicol Partylist), Pammy Zamora (Taguig), Zia Alonto Adiong (Lanao del Sur), Paolo Ortega (La Union), Jay Khonghun (Zambales), at Cheeno Miguel Almario (Davao Oriental) ang Administrative Order (AO) No. 18 na sumasaklaw sa lahat ng inihalal at itinalagang opisyal, maliban na lamang sa mga otorisadong gumamit ng nabanggit na mga device.

“This administrative order is very laudable, especially since we all know, and we have all not been oblivious to the fact that some of our government officials have indeed been abusing the use of these sirens and blinkers,” ani Nograles, isang abugado at House Deputy Majority Leader.

Sinabi ni Bongalon, isang House Assistant Majority Leader, na ang AO 18 ay patunay na ang Pangulo mismo ang mangunguna at magiging halimbawa para sa mga opisyal at empleyado ng gobyerno.

“President Marcos is sensitive enough to what our people on the ground feel whenever officials use these blinkers,” ani Bongalon. “Obviously, the President takes offense that some people in government have that some kind of privileged mentality. And he acted on it right away.”

Sumang-ayon naman si Zamora sa pahayag nina Nograles at Bongalon. “We’re on the right path. It may always be a cliché to invoke, rather repeatedly, the line no one is above the law, but in truth and in fact, that should always be the case.”

“Nobody is exempt from adhering to the laws of the land. As we have always declared: The law applies to all. We should take it from there. No exceptions,” deklara ni Zamora.

“It’s actually a shame that they have been doing this for a long while now. It’s about time we do this again,” dagdag pa ni Zamora na nagsabi na ito dapat ang pamantayan at hindi ang kabaliktaran nito.

Ayon naman kay Adiong, “The issuance of this AO 18 is just right. We really have to follow this, and keep this in mind because we should be role models to the public in general.”

Para naman kay Ortega ang ginawa ng Pangulo ay “a step on the right direction.”

“I think it’s very annoying to see these officials use these sirens and blinkers with impunity, as if they are entitled and can always get away with it,” sabi ni Ortega.

“There simply cannot be chaos or disruptions in our thoroughfares only because some public officials feel that they have all the right to squeeze in through traffic. This is just unacceptable,” sabi naman ni Khonghun.

Binigyan-diin naman ni Almario na dapat sumunod sa batas ang lahat lalo na ang mga gumawa ng batas.

“It doesn’t make sense to break laws as a lawmaker. If I have to go through the heavy traffic of EDSA, I leave earlier than expected to get to where I need to be on time. If time doesn’t permit, then at least we are aware of what needs to be fixed in our traffic schemes. We as lawmakers have to also immerse ourselves in what everyone is experiencing to know what policies are bent, broken, and doing well. We are citizens first after all. With this, I applaud PBBM for his initiative on AO. 18,” sabi ni Almario.

Ayon sa AO 18, exempted sa panuntunan ang Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), trak ng bumbero ng Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), ambulansya ng ospital, at iba pang emergency vehicles.