A sports utility vehicle (SUV) earned flak after counterflowing in an EDSA bus lane in the early hours of Sunday.
A bus conductor posted a Facebook Reel showing a private vehicle blocking their way while they were traversing near the EDSA Busway Guadalupe Station on July 28.
The bus was traveling to Monumento.
It took a while before the SUV gave way by reversing until it reached the end of the concrete barrier separating the bus lane from the rest of the lanes in EDSA.
Bus driver Ace Babina said to GMA’s “24 Oras” that it probably took the SUV “around two minutes” before it backed away.
“Parang gusto niya, ibig sabihin niya, parang kami pa siguro ‘yung may mali,” he said in an interview.
The SUV reportedly hit the railings of the barrier several times when it reversed.
Bus conductor Rogelio Ferolino Dayday, who posted the encounter on his Facebook page, said that the vehicle backed away for about 100 meters.
He added that their bus was stuck for about “15 minutes.”
“Hindi siya marunong umatras, eh. Minsan nagu-gutter siya, eh. ‘Yung mga pasahero, ‘yung mga iba, nagalit na kasi mala-late na sila eh,” Dayday said in the interview, referring to the SUV.
In his video, some passengers of the bus speculated that the driver of the SUV might have been “drunk.”
In another interview with News5’s “Frontline Tonight,” Dayday said that the incident caused a build-up of other buses behind them.
Reports said that the incident affected an ambulance and other buses as there are only a few emergency exits in the EDSA busway.
When the SUV reached the end of the barrier, enforcers of the Inter-Agency Council For Traffic Task Force immediately responded to the incident.
“Itong may-ari ng sasakyan, nagsabi na galing siyang gimik, medyo nakainom po siguro ito,” MMDA Special Operations Strike Force Officer-in-Charge Gabriel Go said in an interview.
“And based on info that we were able to gather, lumagpas po siya sa pupuntahan niya, which is going [to] BGC kung saan siya umuuwi,” he added, referring to Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.
“Eh apparently, paglagpas po niya ng turn going to BGC, nagulat siya na lumagpas siya, so he it, ano, an open barrier, which napagkamalan niyang U-turn slot going back to Guadalupe,” Go said.
The MMDA said there are no U-turn slots in the middle of EDSA.
The traffic authority also caught the incident on its camera, saying it was the “first time” they had witnessed a private vehicle counterflowing in the EDSA busway.
The driver of the SUV was penalized with P1,000 for reckless driving and P2,000 for the illegal counterflow.
Meanwhile, Dayday’s Facebook Reel of the incident has reached 2.2 million views, 16,300 likes, 2,700 shares, and 2,300 comments.
It also made its way to the X (formerly Twitter) platform, where the reposted video has similarly earned viral status with 702,600 views, 8,000 likes, 1,300 reposts, and 110 replies so far.
The SUV expectedly earned online condemnation from Filipinos for its maneuver.
“Sweet potato or feeling VIP? Either way, buti nahuli siya, hahahahaha,” an online user wrote, referring to a “kamote driver” or someone who disregards traffic laws and drives recklessly.
“Kamote” is “sweet potato” in English.
“Driving is a privilege, not a right. We don’t need more a-holes like this on our roads,” another user commented.
“The daily lawlessness in the EDSA bus lane is a shameful, embarrassing black mark for urban transport policy and law enforcement,” sustainable mobility advocate Robert Siy wrote.
“LASING OR BANGAG?” another user commented on the video.
The EDSA Busway is for the exclusive use of bus carousels traversing the major thoroughfare. It is also for on-duty ambulances, fire trucks and service vehicles performing duties for the busway.
The exclusive lane can also be used by the country’s highest government officials which are the President, Vice President, the Senate President, the House Speaker, and the Chief Justice.
