Kicking and fighting filled up last month’s motoring social media calendar 

By Alvin Uy November 30,2015
PHOTOS grabbed from John Apacible’s Facebook account which has since been taken down after his video went viral.

PHOTOS grabbed from John Apacible’s Facebook account which has since been taken down after his video went viral.

FROM THE race tracks to the streets, kicking and fighting filled much of motoring’s social media scene. From a “flying kick” of an Ateneo Blue Eagle player to a world-class MotoGP champion, to a bus company being kicked out of its franchise, everyone seemed to be in a fighting mood last month.

Let’s hope November will cooler for everyone.

Controversial Florida bus line asked LTRFB to have competitor “kicked out” of franchise

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) ordered bus company Everlasting Transport Co. to pay a P1-million fine and surrender its license plates after the agency canceled its franchise for operating out-of-line, based on the complaint filed by GV Florida Transport Inc. against Everlasting Transport Co.

According to GV Florida, the operation of its Cagayan Valley-Manila route was affected by the out-of-line operations of the respondent-bus firms.

GV Florida Transport Inc. figured in a controversy last year after one of its buses fell off a ravine on the morning of Feb. 7, landing at a small farm in Barangay Talubin, Bontoc, in Mt. Province.

The bus accident killed 14 people, including two foreigners and comedian Arvin “Tado” Jimenez.

Read more: https://motioncars.inquirer.net/40688/ltfrb-revokes-out-of-line-bus-firms-franchise#ixzz3rGyX6u8I

Rossi “kicked off” his chances of another MotoGP title

Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia was the venue touted as the race that proved to be the turning point in the 2015 MotoGP riders championship. Then championship leader Valentino Rossi had a tussle between him and rival Marc Marquez in the early laps as the two riders kept getting together. Some videos allegedly showed that Marquez tried to “nudge” Rossi to make him lose focus and possibly hinder him from catching Rossi’s rival and teammate Jorge Lorenzo. Another video showed that Marc leaned far too early for a corner to block a fight-back from Rossi. On the 6th lap, as both entered turn 12, Rossi visibly slowed down, and after another “nudge” from behind by Marquez, reacted and jerked his left leg. This action was viewed by most viewers as Rossi kicking Marquez, causing him to fall. While Marquez was immediately out of the race, but Rossi continued on and finished the race behind teammate Jorge and eventual winner Dani Pedrosa. 

Organizers postponed the post-race press conference to discuss with riders regarding their on-track altercation. While the closed door meeting was taking place, Jorge Lorenzo was reported to have barged his way into the meeting, demanding the disqualification of Rossi. Race director Mike Webb, in a press conference, stated the reason for their decision of penalizing Rossi: “The decision is that Race Direction has imposed three penalty points on Valentino Rossi for irresponsible riding: that is, deliberately causing contact. Deliberately running wide in a corner in order to try and force another rider off-line. The result was a crash and so it’s irresponsible riding causing a crash, and for that we have imposed three penalty points on Rossi.” This eventually caused Rossi to lose the 2015 title to Jorge Lorenzo, who became the world MotoGP champion in last weekend’s race in Valencia.

Read more: https://motioncars.inquirer.net/40965/2015-malaysian-motogp-dani-wins-the-hottest-race#ixzz3rGu4CO2s

Fly-kicking drunk Ateneo player and “councilor”

Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) basketball player John Apacible was in hot water last month because of a viral video of him apparently drunk and hurled invectives at an unseen man believed to be taking the video, repeatedly challenging him to a fight while brandishing a “Councilor” vanity plate to prove his claim that he was a councilor. Supt. Limuel Obon, commander of the Quezon City Police District’s Kamuning station, said that the altercation between Apacible and Ryan Bautista, a 37-year-old businessman from Malabon City along Timog Ave. near Quezon Avenue in Quezon City. Bautista later went to the police station to file a complaint for malicious mischief against the AdMU player, saying his Honda car sustained dents after Apacible repeatedly kicked it.

According to the police official, the altercation started when Bautista confronted Apacible for manhandling a delivery van driver and police officers SPO1 Jaime Morato and PO1 Randel Candelaria, chanced upon them and tried to intervene. The two policemen advised Apacible and Bautista to come with them to the police station to settle their argument but the Ateneo player made an excuse to get something from his car and then sped off. Under the Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act, a law enforcement officer should conduct on the spot a sobriety test on a driver suspected to be drunk or drugged.

Read more: PNP: No case yet vs ‘drunk driving’ Ateneo player

Controversial dance kicks from Playgirls causes MMDA Chair to quit job

Immediately after being criticized for gifting a Laguna representative with a much talked about dance kicking Playgirls on a viral video circulating over social media last month, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chair Francis Tolentino handed his resignation letter but still expressed intention to seek higher office. “I am now resigning as the MMDA chair,” said Tolentino telling the President that he would remain his loyal friend, before signing the resignation letter. Aquino said Tolentino reached out to him and “accepted responsibility” for the recent incident connected to him. Aquino appointed lawyer Emerson Carlos as the new chief of the MMDA. Carlos was the agency’s officer-in-charge.

Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/728809/tolentino-quits-mmda-over-playgirls-scandal-but-wont-quit-senate-race#ixzz3rH9qhadH

Aquino: I felt it

President Aquino said he himself was caught in a traffic jam on Edsa recently and experienced firsthand the daily misery endured by Filipinos who thread Metro Manila’s busiest thoroughfare. “Last night, I passed through Edsa and I saw how [it was]. I really felt the traffic that our citizenry go through. Every time I go out of Malacañang, even in the morning, I take note of the areas where there are traffic [problems],” Aquino told reporters last October. He also said that Edsa has a holding capacity of only 13,600 vehicles per hour but is currently being used by 18,000 vehicles per hour.

He blamed the exponential growth in car and motorcycles sales in the country and was particularly surprised by the growth rate of motorcycle sales at 100,000 units per month. Having 1.2 million motorcycles rolling out in one year would indeed eat up a lot of space on Edsa, he said.

Read more: https://motioncars.inquirer.net/40969/aquino-i-really-felt-traffic-on-edsa#ixzz3rGuIOQPN

“AlDub” gets northern overexposure

 Some 55,000 starstruck “AlDub” fans trekked to the Philippine Arena in Bulacan last October 26th Saturday, as motorists bound for northern Luzon got stuck in heavy traffic on North Luzon Expressway (NLEx). Tickets for the “Sa Tamang Panahon” grand celebration of noontime show “Eat Bulaga” featuring Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza was sold out in just two days, had the arena fully packed. The arena is described as the largest indoor stadium in the world.

Read more: https://motioncars.inquirer.net/40728/plan-your-drive-north-as-tamang-panahon-with-aldub-packs-arena#ixzz3rHLmp0vm

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