Enforcer - in the Philippines they are a person employed by the state to enforce the local laws. In most other countries they would be called a policeman.
Like in most developing (3rd World) countries they are severely underpaid and have a strong incentive to subsidize their meager pay at every opportunity.
Last week I took a friend to the airport for an early flight ... very early, as we dropped him off at about 04:15. The airport at this time was hectic with taxis and departing passengers everywhere. So as we left the airport area we were in a stream of traffic ... made up mainly of taxis.
One fantastic feature of Mactan island, which derives a large proportion of income from foreign holiday makers, is that they either don't have too many road signs, or they are so old and faded you can't read them, or they are "disguised" by a myriad of other signs or overgrown foliage. This guarantees that the odds are well stacked against you as a foreigner. The chances are stacked that at some time you are going to transgress (or violate) some traffic law.
This is compounded by another two factors. The first is that the laws for locals are different from those for foreigners ... so don't use a local as the basis for application of a law. The second is that as a foreigner you are a target. Immediately identified as an easy mark.
You don't know or understand the law and when you are stopped there is a veiled threat that the legal process to pay the fine and collect your confiscated license will be very inconvenient and time consuming. So if you are on holiday, where are you going to find the place where you have been told they will be taking your license? How much will it cost to get there? How long will it take to pay the fine?
So there is a very, very strong incentive to finalize the minor "violation" as quickly as possible. This is done by means of a negotiated "spot fine". There is no receipt and the matter is over.
As we left the airport I was in a stream of taxis and didn't notice that there was a feint sign at the beginning of some concrete bollards indicating that I was in the "taxi" lane and I should have been in the other lane. I wasn't concerned as it seemed to be inconsequential. Not true.
As I lowered the window the enforcer requested my license and after taking it and studying it and me, advised me that I had violated some traffic law. So what now. I was holding up a long stream of taxis so was instructed to pull over to the side of the road. My mind immediately went into 3rd world negotiating mode.
As he sauntered (in a manner which traffic police internationally have perfected) across to the car he was fingering his ticketing book. However 3rd world police are very easy to read. They don't start writing the ticket but start telling you about the consequences if they start writing as they flip the pages of the book.
What follows is a short and sweet negotiation. You handing over of a small amount of money for the "spot fine", your licence being handed back and both of you going on your way as if nothing happened.
However that is not quite the end for me. I have now vowed that I'll never again be part of this problem.
Corruption requires cooperation - there are two parties who must agree to be dishonest ... I'm not going to be one of them.
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