My car almost got smashed by two JAM LINER buses in SLEX this evening. I was driving home from work running at a decent speed inside the express way. I was approching Caltex ( the one located just before Sta. Rosa Exit) when I decided to stop by the gas station to withdraw money from the atm machine. It took me about 10 minutes to park my car, do the atm transaction, start the engine again and head home. I drove towards the exit and went back inside slex. I was surprised that a few feet before I approached the end of the barrier line (I was techinically still inside the lane meant for exiting cars from the gas station), when the first JAM LINER bus raced right through my lane forcing me turn my wheel almost abruptly to the right bringing my car to the dirt road right beside the shoulder. I didn’t have enough time to blow the horn, all I had in mind at that split second was to get away from the huge moving thing which was taking over my lane driving at an estimate speed of 120 kph. If I didn’t turn that wheel at the right time, the tail of the bus would have hit the whole front (driver side) portion of my car. And with its speed, I couldn’t imagine the kind of impact it could have created.

Before I even had the chance to exhale a breath of relief, another JAM LINER bus with plate number DVN 352 ( i hope and pray that I got the plate number right) sped by taking the same path and having almost the same speed as the first bus. I had to manuever the wheel to get out of the way even more. I ended up in the farthest end of the dirt road almost hitting the row of trees. This time, I blew the horn, turned the high beam on, and tried to catch up with the second bus that almost got me smashed right through the trees. But since I was already taking the next exit, I only got a blurry vision of the plate number. It appeared to me that those two buses were having a race inside the express way with barely three lanes (on the left was the road construction and on the right was the lane with the barriers giving way for the exiting cars from caltex).

When I reached my exit, It dawned on me the impact of what happened (that I almost met an  accident that could have killed me but the Lord didn’t allow it to happen ) and thank Jesus for his protection. I felt though that I have to report this incident to the management of the buses that were driven by such reckless drivers. When I saw the dispatching station of the JAM LINER in our area (its the one in front of Saint Peter School inside Balibago Complex), I pulled over, went down and asked the workers who were there ( I believe they were the drivers and ticket distributors of the buses with Manila-Balibago route) the address and the phone number of their main office. When they asked me why, I briefly told them that I had an encounter with their buses, leaving all the details barely mentioned since I didn’t want to talk to them for so long and I wanted to reserve my gory details for the complaint letter that I am going to write.

One of the "manongs" asked me "Bakit ano bang naging sira ng sasakyan mo?" Ang sabi ko "Wala. Pero hindi yun ang irereklamo ko". This person then replied in a mocking tone "Ay wala yan, nagulat ka lang siguro…" The moment I heard those comments, I really got mad. I said "Salamat nalang po", headed back to my car and screeched away. I couldn’t help myself from really feeling so angry at the drivers of the JAM Buses, and at the people in the dispatching office.

During the next 15 minutes of my travel going home, my face felt really hot. I wanted to file a complaint at their head office at that very moment. I wanted to go home to tell my mom what happened to me. I wanted to search for the number of the JAM LINER and immediately tell someone from their company about their reckless and careless employees and how this behavior can be so destructive to the general public. Basta anything that can help me release the pent up emotion and post incident trauma. Needless to say, I arrived home crying (out of a mixed feeling of anger, fear, frustration, and thanksgiving that I am not hurt) and told my mom what happened.

My dad texted me after 30 minutes asking me how are the brakes of the car, and that I should check if I have to add more brake fluid. I didn’t reply. If you know me well, you’ll know why I didn’t text back.

The people in the dispatching office and even some of the people who will read this blog might think that I am over reacting. Probably I am, but that is because I know for a fact that should there be no intervention and protection from Jesus at that moment, I could have met a terrible accident which could have caused me much (probably my life). Probably for those manongs, I am being petty about this. But petty or not, I am reporting this to the Bus company and to whatever government agency that should know about this kind of incident.

To everyone who drive (or even commute) to and from work, remember to pray before leaving your home and your offices. There’s power in prayer in the name of Jesus. I believe with all my heart that it was the power of Jesus’s name which I sealed my prayer with before I drove home that spared me from sure accident. To Him I give all the glory and thanksgiving, Amen!