On January 12 around 11:30am, I was busy at the office when I heard there has been another accident in our Intersection Tikling. This was a road that was a part of my regular daily routine. I use and go through here everyday and it was just walking distance from where I was at. So I immediately went for the fear that one of my loved ones or those I knew were there. I had to make sure and check if they were all alright. I received a text from my mom and Tita asking where I was at and if I was ok. When I got there, it was traffic on all sides and there were dozens of people. I peered over and saw the body of a motorcyclist. Not too far from it was the dumptruck that had ran him and others over. It was one of the worse accidents to happen here. It killed 5 including an 11 year old kid. Thankfully, I didn’t know any of the victims but my heart still grieved as if I did. Although this type of thing happened quite often here, this one was caught on CCTV video. It was disturbing to see. It’s been more than 12 years since I have been using Kaytikling. It was too familiar, I live just up the hill where the runaway trucks have passed. I ask myself why does this type of thing always happen? Imagine the past 4 years, this type of accident has happened 3 times! I can understand that accidents happen but the thing is, it happened so quite often and yet I never really saw anything visible that was being done about it! My heart was too crushed from this last accident to be silent about it. There must be something that could be done for this Junction to be safer! There has to be an end to all this before another’s life. We did not want to wait for one of us or our loved ones to fall victim to this. As a Christian, what can we do?
I just started thinking and tweeting. My Pastor friend then replied and gave out a suggestion for me and our youth group GenCon. God revealed something and soon we were to go out and do it. I started to conceptualize and share with our group. At first a typical protest rally with yelling, and anger expressed toward the government came to mind. But then I felt God was telling me to calm down, and be still before Him and on that day. When was the last any people went over and prayed over these streets?
What we were to do?
1. Set a day to gather people who care enough to say enough! It was to be done exactly a week after the accident and during the time
2. A Silent protest. We were to just stand and pray around Kaytikling for 2 hours.
3. Make it clear that we are not anti-government, we even got permission and the approval from the Mayor himself.
4. Raise awareness and help push the government to do something about this.
5. A peaceful rally and a solemn gathering. We were to make no noise the whole time. We were to cause no traffic by not occupying only the sides of the roads.
Since we did no yelling, we made banners and placards to carry around that read:“Jesus loves the people at Kaytikling, No more tik-killings, God Bless our Intersection, Justice for the Kaytikling Victims, Save lives at Kaytikling!, A Safer Intersection Please!, No more careless intersection killings, boo to accidents, companies pls check your trucks,Lord pls stop the Killing in Kaytikling”. There was also a Silhouette drawing of a dumptruck going downhill that was crossed out. So we went carrying these signs while wearing white as our uniform. I knew there would be some media because we have tipped some of them. TV5 was the first on the scene. Then I was surprised to receive a text from Gus Abelgas, a top TV network’s veteran new journalist(ABSCBN). There were also other cameras rolling and newspapers interviewing and asking about what was going on. I was asked, aside praying, what can be done to prevent dump trucks from crashing down Tikling?
The following we also suggest and hope to see:
1. Emergency Truck Ramp at Hill Top/Cabrera Road where out of control trucks can crash into sand
2. Checkpoint for trucks at Hill Top before they head down
3. Sched time for those trucks to pass/Truck ban
4. Truck companies stricter safety compliance
5. A Higher fine/punishment to companies that don’t comply to safety standards
6. People to be more alert, take more caution when crossing streets
7. Etc.
It was a weekday and so many of our youth were either at work or school. Still there were some who were willing to take a leave, be late or be absent. We were around 100 who participated. At first I tried not to promote it too much for fear we might cause too much traffic. But the thing is we wanted to form a prayer chain around the intersection w/c covered all sides without blocking any of the 5 roads. Aside our church, I made a call to other pastors I knew from different churches in Taytay and some of them appeared. Asia Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary which was just near the intersection, joined us too. What happened after we circled Tikling one time was people remained at their post, stood and prayed. Those who didn’t have placards or signs had a peace of paper which read “Praying for Kaytikling”. Then from where I was at, the site where the mashed up truck lay, I passed around a piece of paper containing a specific prayer concern. There were seven of these.
1. We prayed for the Government. For God’s leading and wisdom for them to take immediate action and make the right decisions in making Tikling a safer intersection.
2. We prayed for the victims’ families. For the comfort and recovery of these who lost loved ones here last Thursday and even in the past. At this time, they were still holding a wake for them.
3. We prayed for the healing and recovery of this area. Most people here are still traumatized from the accident.
4. We prayed for God’s protection of the people in this area. That He would always keep them safe.
5. We prayed for the companies who have trucks that use this road. That they have a much stricter compliance on safety regulations.
6. We prayed that the spirit of fear will leave the commuters and those who use this intersection. A lot are still scared coming to this area. Everytime you pass, there’s this eerie feeling and people are still talking about the ccident. There are even some who do not get off or take this route anymore out of fear. So we prayed for their peace of mind. To conquer the fear of being at Tikling Junction
7. Lastly, we prayed that the accident rates will significantly lessen and go down the next years to come. If that happens, then we have succeeded in our rally, and God has answered our prayers!
I created a Facebook page called “Stop the Killing in Kaytikling”. Please search and like it. This simple page set up the event. I also hope to update this page with the progress that we’re believing to happen soon!
On Jan.19, 2012, we showed the world we were not afraid to stand in the direct path of where the killer truck passed. We stood in the gap! The program was simple and any other group could have done it. Other highlights of this event, was at exactly 11:18am, the exact time when the accident happened a week before, with the assistance of the police officers there, the traffic flow of vehicles was stopped at all sides. The intersection was shut down for 1 min of silence. That’s when I went to the middle and led a short prayer. At the end of our 2 hour prayer protest, we all gathered where the truck was at and had our closing ceremony. We also ‘Tebowed’ altogether in this intersection in our closing prayer as we spoke and declared blessing to it. Aside from the news and media, we are still waiting to hear what’s gonna happen next in this place. It may not be immediate, it’s not like a alternate route for trucks will grow out all of a sudden in a week. But what I am looking forward to is this. After 4 years, I announced that we could gather here once again, this time to celebrate God’s answered prayers. Because we believe that the accident rates will go down if not 0! We also hope to see a big reduction to accidental tragedy due to preventive measures taken. Some skeptics may ask, “what is prayer going to do?” I say more than their negativity will ever accomplish. I say we’re off to a great start. This is more powerful than anything we humans can do because we are crying out to a BIG God who holds everything in His hands. We came, we prayed….we expect greater things for Kaytikling.
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
