Batch 86 - Our Lady Of Penafrancia Minor Seminary - Sorsogon

ASBAG
Edgar A. Basares Jr.

I am working in the transport industry being an HR Manager of a private bus company based in Dasmarinas, Cavite. Our units traverse the Navotas – Palapala (Dasmarinas) route from 4:00 am to 2:00 am seven days a week. Caviteños knew us well, residents of Dasmarinas in particular, from being the only transport group granted the Permit to operate along said route – to their convenience, and also because of the times they have to transfer when our buses are stuck in the middle of the road due to engine failure and other technical problems and the times they have to open the windows because of malfunctioning aircon system – to their irritation.

I am handling 278 employees 95% of which are males 82% are drivers and conductors. I live inside the garage, a one hectare property where I also hold office. All employees are covered with Personal Accident Insurance, drivers and conductors received one of the highest commission in the industry, along side these is a pabahay project, scholarship for their deserving kids, medical assistance which extends to the family members, bonuses and allowances for drivers and conductors.

Because I live inside the garage, on several occasions I have been roused from bed at 1:00 am to break a fight between employees carrying lead pipes and fan knives. Many a times, I have to rush an employee to a hospital either bleeding from a fight or suffering from impatso and attend to his needs. On one occasion again ran like hell to a hospital 14 kilometers away at 12 midnight because we had the misfortune of having a passenger who just came from caesarean delivery and was suffering from post CRS trauma, and I have to babysit her. All problems of our employees land on my desk, from their arrears with the availed housing loan, to damages incurred by a nearby bar where our employees have had a fight after a drinking spree, to demands for financial support from B2 while trying to pacify B1 at the other room.

In general, my job is to pick up their loose diapers and expect not even a word of thank or a note of appreciation.

And the prevailing norms and traits; employees swear as fast as they chew food, brags on their sexcapades as if only they knew how, they refuses to be controlled and resist all forms of authority and would often challenge you to a fight once you impose disciplinary actions. I have one applicant who threatened to kill me if I do not approve his application. I did not, and sent him home and the last I heard of is his scratching his head and trying to figure out what hit him while I continue to function in my duties and responsibilities.

We call it ASBAG. It is their lingo for ARROGANCE. They would bluff the hell out of you and if you stammer you’re dead. It emanates from the culture of the road they assimilate every day; on how they would bluff their way out from traffic violations, false promises of seats available to entice passengers to come in, and the swerving and crisscrossing on the street to get passengers ahead of other drivers. When they disembark they continue to carry in them such trait and values. It’s a way of life for them.

I am expected to create miracles yet I’m no saint and far from being one. At the end of each day I am dog tired yet could not sleep, mentally fatigued and exhausted but still alert for any eventuality whether inside the garage or on the road.

Of all my jobs before this is the least rewarding in terms of salary. The temptation to abandon ship and transfer remains a daily option. Yet I continue to hold on.

To me the dilemma is between financial rewards as fruits of my industry, dedication and initiative – which I can never have in this company inasmuch as I am not a kapuso neither am I a kapamilya, versus the joy and contentment of work brought about by the trust and confidence of my boss – which I may not have in another company.

My everyday routine is a challenge. You solve a problem today but it will resurrect again tomorrow maybe with a different face but it is the same dog. It is a vicious cycle exhausting and tiring. In general whenever we tend to move forward we also shoot our best foot ahead.

Yet the biggest challenge and what continues to motivate me in this job is how to make these people understand how the law operates. That it is not designed to restrain them but merely to regulate. And that the regulation is necessary for the common good. The challenge is a tall mountain to climb, but like all mountains it can be climbed. Reaching its summit is not my immediate goal rather an inch by inch improvement serves as my consolation. The problems would forever be there, in a never-ending cycle but looking around with the progress we made towards maturity gives me the strength to go on.

And oh by the way, if ever you meet me don’t call me manager, ‘ger would be just fine since there is no money.