Vic Enterprises’ employees watch as City Hall personnel post tarpaulin informing the public of the closure of their warehouse along M.J. Cuenco Avenue in Barangay Mabolo.
/CDN PHOTO/Junjie Mendoza
Traffic flow along M.J. Cuenco Avenue in Barangay Mabolo has improved since Vic Enterprises closed its main office and 12 other stores and warehouses in the area this week.
Cebu City Traffic Operations (CCTO) head Francisco Ouano said their delivery trucks no longer obstruct the flow of vehicles along the national highway.
“So far, the traffic flow is okay not like before nga daghang trucks mag agi-agi (when trucks used to pass by the area),” Ouano told Cebu Daily News.
But barangay officials are not as happy.
Barangay Captain Rey Ompoc said they lost revenues that they were supposed to earn from Vic Enterprises’ operations in their barangay.
Ompoc said their barangay gets a 10 percent share of the total amount of taxes paid by the construction materials supplier to City Hall.
The company, Ompoc said, is also very supportive in the implementation of barangay-initiated projects and activities.
Vic Enterprises would make donations of sacks of cement to help in the rehabilitation of classrooms in public schools located in the barangay and sound system for the St. Joseph’s Parish.
“Dako gyud nga kawala ang pagsira sa Vic Enterprises diri sa among barangay. Apan wa man tay mahimo kung mao na ang order sa mayor (The closure of stores owned by Vic Enterprises is a big loss for our barangay. But we will have to adhere to the mayor’s order,” Ompoc told CDN.
Citing environmental and traffic violations, Mayor Tomas Osmeña issued a December 19 order for the closure of all Vic Enterprises’ stores and warehouses in Barangay Mabolo.
Copies of the mayor’s closure order were posted on their main offices, stores and warehouses on Thursday.
Ompoc said he earlier deployed two barangay workers to help man traffic near Vic Enterprises’ stores and warehouses.
He also asked the management of Vic Enterprises to clean up the mud deposit following complaints from nearby residents and other road users.
“Kami nitabang gyud unta mi sa pagpanglimpyo diha. Ako silang gihangyo nga pasilhigan na diha. Wa naman tay mahimo, gipasira naman. Di man ta makabuot (We even helped them clean the area. I asked them to sweep the mud. But there is not much that we can do for now because they were already ordered closed (by the mayor). We cannot go against the mayor’s will),” Ompoc said.