Indestructible Toyotas and Responsible Government Officials
free stock image of a not-a-toyota. back off.
There's so little to love about bureaucrats, I know. Public perception is that they're corrupt, self-serving, irresponsible...the litany of woes goes on. But in a province called La Union in the Philippines, officials of the Department of Agriculture - Region 4A might just be known for something else.
Spotted at the Toyota La Union service center is a 1999 Tamaraw FX Revo, a fifth generation MPV sold by Toyota. Obviously still in use, the pictures indicate a still-pristine paint job for its age, and an odometer that says 812,812 kilometers.
Wait, what?
Much of the goodwill it generated online comes not from the mileage -- I mean it's a Toyota after all -- but from the fact that the officials in charge of this service vehicle actually know how to take care of it.
It pisses me no end to see a service vehicle being left to rot on an empty lot beside a makeshift community hall here in Manila. I used to watch this guy who vlogs about the local traffic office towing away such wrecks (not Toyotas but still). He said had those vehicles been privately owned the owners would have kept them running as long as they could. But because they're government property there's no accountability -- they could always ask for a new vehicle when the current one becomes undriveable.
Which is why it's so refreshing to see evidence of your taxes being well spent.
Read the story here: