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Frustrated and traumatized by his treatment at the hands of the presidential motorcade police, the chief editor of an automotive magazine vented his feelings through an open letter to the president published in a national newspaper on Friday.

Hendra NS wrote: “Pak Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono whom we respect, please move to the State Palace. Every day we suffer each time you and your family leave your house in Cikeas. Cibubur is only smooth for the President and his family, not for everyone else.”

He then recounted an incident with the presidential motorcade police, or Patwal, last Friday at the Cililitan toll road gate.

“After paying to enter the inner-city toll road, I heard sirens and security officers shouting over a megaphone for me and other drivers to pull over.

“I realized that Pak SBY or his family would pass. I slowed down while looking for a safe spot,” he wrote, adding that he wanted to pull over to the left side of the road.

“But there was another order for me to move to the right. When I went right, a Patwal officer got angry and told me to go to the left. When I went left, he ordered me to go to the right. Confused and panicked, I stopped and waited for the next order. A Patwal officer in front of me got out of the car and hit my car,” he wrote.

He reported that the officer also threatened to shoot him.

According to Hendra, he was intimidated by the officer for 10 minutes. His daughter, who was in the car, became emotional.

The officer yelled and cursed at me without giving me a chance to speak. I tried to explain that I was only following the orders but he said, ‘Where did the speaker come from? You should have just followed me, I almost broke my arm signaling you to pull over to the left,’” Hendra wrote.

“Because the dialogue was not calming down, I finally told him that I was a journalist, to prevent him from resorting to violence, but he scoffed this and said, ‘We’re out in the heat every day with a small salary. Do you think I want this job?’”

The incident ended after the presidential motorcade passed and the officer ran to his patrol car and left.

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said that “the president himself is aware and concerned” about the letter.

Julian, who claimed he did not directly witness the incident, said the heavy-handedness on the part of the Patwal officer may not have been intentional.

“If he was deliberately being ill-mannered, the government truly regrets it,” Julian said.

“We realize that there needs to be internal coordination to prevent incidents that create discomfort for other vehicles users,” he said, adding that similar incidents had happened before.

“This calls for introspection within the presidential guard to make sure that there are no actions done outside the standard operating procedures.”

Julian said that the presidential palace would not ignore the “regrettable incident.” He added that the government was currently addressing how to minimize the regular traffic jams caused by the president’s motorcade.

“We’re trying as much as we can to lessen the disruption and especially to limit traffic jams for other commuters,” he said, adding that the directive came straight from the president.