Window washers in Paranaque — what gives?
Gunther Deichmann Photography
We’ve all seen them. Our car windows have all been washed by them. Topless teenage boys with pails and basahan.
They’re in Coastal Road. They’re by MIA Road. They’re by wherever there are cars. And rain.
We actually don’t get the point.
It’s raining and they wash the car windows which will be rained on after they wash it.
A lot of people even said that the water they use come from esteros.
We’ve heard of stories too.
Some, when you ignore them or don’t give them a tip, scratch your cars with coins.
“Last week, I was even cursed by one of them when I tried ignoring them,” said one Alabang resident.
“Sana maaksidente kayo (I hope you get into an accident),” said the kid.
What is the rule against this?
Who is in-charge of policing these kids?
They can also cause accidents or worse get hit by cars while running around on the road chasing potential “customers.”
The worst part is, we see traffic policemen and MMDA officials in the area where these children “victimize” motorists and they don’t do anything about it.
Are we really obliged to give these kids money in exchange for a service that we don’t really need?
If we stop giving them money, will they stop?
If authorities can’t stop them (for reasons we don’t understand) then maybe we should take it on our own to solve these so-called “hazards on the road.”
Stop giving these rainy day car window washers money.
Turn on your wipers. Honk your horn loudly. Move your cars. Wave them off.
Let’s keep these children off our car windows. And off the roads.
Also, there have been cases, even during bright and sunny days, some elder teenagers hang out by that stop light in front of Nayong Pilipino amongst cars driving out from NAIA II.
These kids might have realized that foreigners and balik bayans can be pretty generous. Sadly they are often rowdy and demanding. Much much more intimidating than those windshield wash boys a few hundred meters away.
I personally called the attention of the MMDA people standing by the stop light to do something. And the MMDA just shrugged their shoulders saying that they accost them, DSWD takes them in, and then in a few days, the kids are back in the area!
It’s not about the service, they don’t even know how to clean windows they just wipe it and make it dirtier.
They merely do that to make it look like they gave you a service, thus making your mind more open to give money to them “supposedly”.
And forget about the police, I believe its actually THE police who is the mastermind in this whole charade. These kids probably earn more than the minimum wage a day from this scam for their respective syndicates. The syndicates in turn give a huge cut to the local cop to give the kids permission to solicit money from motorists in their “territory”.
This is the Philippines, the authorities and the criminals are partners in abusing the innocent civilians.
there was once an instance where a teenager doing the same stuff threw a pail of soapy water on my windshield at the heat of noon without wiping them off.
ang nangyari, ayun…. nagmarka marka ang sabon sa windshield ko.
I have been harassed by these kids everyday on my drive to work. If I don’t give them money,, they splash sudsy water on my windscreen making it impossible to see a thing, lift my wipers sino can’t use them, and then run away laughing. It makes me so angry I can only cry. I have a toddler at home whom I want to come home alive to everyday. But these punks pose such a threat to my safety that everyday I pray for just one more day alive.
Yes the MMDA officers are about five feet away only from when this happens, but they turn a blind eye. Sam way the officers on Multinational gate by Duty Free shop do nothing about the jeeps clogging the entrane to the gate to drop off and pick up passengers right at the NO LOADING AND UNLOADING zone.
No one in power is ever going to do anything about these ills. We are powerless.
So much for our taxes, nuff said. God bless this country