Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma
CEBU Archbishop Jose Palma is appealing to Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña and Director Victor Caindec of the Land Transportation Office in
Central Visayas (LTO-7) to stop their word war.
Instead, the two officials should join hands in addressing the traffic impasse along Natalio Bacalso Avenue and adjoining streets in Barangay Mambaling, Cebu City, he added.
If requested by one of the two warring camps, the 68-year-old prelate was willing to step in and mediate the conflict between Osmeña and Caindec.
“I always say that it’s not good to throw mud at each other. Hurling expletives and exchanging accusations do not bear good fruits,” he said in an interview after presiding the Mass to celebrate the feast of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel at the Carmelites Monastery in Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City. “If there is a way, collaboration and cooperation should be made for the good of society,” he added.
Osmeña on Monday made good of his plan to pull out all traffic enforcers near the underpass construction site in Mambaling and let the LTO-7 handle the traffic there.
Caindec, however, also declined to deploy his LTO-7 personnel unless the mayor would issue a legal statement, admitting that Osmeña was unable to manage the traffic and would subsequently resign from his post.
The dispute between the two government officials stemmed from Osmeña’s Facebook post last week which blamed the LTO for allegedly doing nothing to speedup the registration of motorcycles in Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor and Negros Oriental.
Osmeña said he had been receiving complaints from motorcycle owners who were fined P12,000 since their vehicles were not registered with LTO.
Caindec criticized the mayor’s statement and said the dealers who released the motorcycles of their clients before completing their registration papers should be blamed.
Palma believed the two officials would eventually realize the consequences of their actions especially that the traffic nightmare in Mambaling had escalated.
“I do believe there is goodness in both of them. They should face and settle the issues in the level of maturity and openness, and in the true spirit of dialogue,” he said.