What's up with CITOM these days?

If there was anything that I did not expect Mayor Tomas Osmeña to do, it was his firing the 31 CITOM enforcers for alleged corrupt practices as reported by jeepney and drivers especially in the heat of the election season. Mayor Tom was right when he said, “I really should not do this. It’s not politically correct to fire people at this stage. But the integrity of the traffic enforcers is at stake. I cannot allow a situation where they will remain there because that will smear the reputation of the entire CITOM.”

The Mayor also scolded the CITOM Board for their inaction on this matter. How things have changed since my time, where there was always a committee to handle these matters. Corruption is like a cancer that spreads and destroys the organization. Through the years, CITOM has always been manned by trustworthy enforcers and there should be no room for petty corruption. Mulcting P20 from jeepney drivers is unacceptable behavior not only for CITOM enforcers, but for any government official!

I salute Mayor Osmeña for his courage and determination because the firing of these traffic enforcers happens at a time when he needs everyone’s votes in this coming elections. However like it or not, he is still the Mayor and he is the CITOM Chief as he no longer appointed one after I left in 2004. Therefore as CITOM Chief, Mayor Tom ought to look at the other problems plaguing this organization under him.

A case in point is the operation of the Sydney Coordinated Automated Traffic System (SCATS) that cost more than a hundred million in the early 90s is no longer working the way it was designed to work. Back when the system was running very well, Cebuano motorists especially those night owls would stop at an intersection and count the seconds before the green signal would appear. But if your vehicle weren’t over the road sensor, you’d never get the signal you wanted. Today, either you get a yellow flashing sign or a working intersection that gives signals at a phased time.

The City of Cebu must do something to modernize its traffic systems; after all, these are mere computers and today’s computers are far more superior to the computers we had back in the 90s. Right now the best thing CITOM can do to improve our traffic situation is to man each major intersection with traffic enforcers. The firing of the 31 enforcers aggravates the situation because now they have to be replaced and it takes time and effort because the new recruits would have to be trained. This means those replacements would not come until June.

Call it a lucky break that we’re already in graduation mode in our schools, hence with the children enjoying their summer break, CITOM has the golden opportunity to train those new recruits at a time when traffic is light. So they better start hiring now. But the problem is, government officials are prohibited from hiring people within the election period.

There are three “E’s” in traffic management. The first is Enforcement, and then there is the E for Engineering and E for Education. But Enforcement and Education go together because when we are strict in our enforcement, it is supposed to educate our drivers or motorists. Unfortunately, CITOM has failed in this endeavor. During my time, we enacted an ordinance dubbed “Strike Three, you’re out!” which was the first ordinance of its kind to enforce and teach trisikads not to violate our laws. If they did refuse to heed the law, on the third violation, their sidecar would be removed and their bicycle given to them.

Back then Mayor Osmeña agreed with this method and signed it into law but last October, the Mayor asked the City Council to repeal this law. I really don’t know why he did that without checking whether this program was a success or not. Today trisikads have a field day violating our laws with impunity. Sure, that law was harsh to the trisikad violators, but we have learned that legal dictum “Dura Lex Sed Lex” The law may be harsh, but it is the law!

In the United States, motorists are given only three violations (as for drunken driving, your license is immediately revoked) and your car insurance even goes up. First violation there will cost you a fine of US$300 or you can opt or choose to clean up the roads from dirt and road kill. If Cebu City doesn’t go into this system, I’ll guarantee you that we will never attain the dream that we used to cherish that Cebu would be a city second to none!

The last E is Engineering. For a long time now, our congressmen do not inform the city of their infrastructure projects when the correct way is for them to ask CITOM where traffic is worse that can be solved through infrastructure like an overpass. An overpass at the intersection of Mango Ave. and M. J. Cuenco Ave. is needed, I can only dream this would come true!