Cops not enforcers will probe traffic accidents – Garma

Garma

Enforcers from the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) are now prohibited from investigating traffic-related accidents, and are directed to focus on manning traffic flow in the city instead.

This developed after the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) issued a memorandum, mandating that the responsibility should lie solely on their stations, from Police Station 1 in Parian to Police Station 11 in Mambaling.

The document, which was dated on Sept. 18, 2018, and signed by Senior Insp. Dexter Basirgo, officer-in-charge of CCPO’s traffic group, stated that investigation and sketching of every vehicular accident in the South Road Properties (SRP) would be left to their department, and the Waterfront (Station 3) and Carbon (Station 5) police stations.

A copy of the memorandum was posted by Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña on his official Facebook page yesterday afternoon.

“The police have ordered CITOM (CCTO) to no longer resolve traffic accidents. If you are involved in an accident, sorry, we can no longer help you.

Please contact the police directly. CITOM (CCTO) can only be in the area to manage traffic flow,” Osmeña said.

In an interview with Senior Supt. Royina Garma, CCPO director, she said that the police had been mandated to solve and investigate traffic-related incidents.

“The police should be the ones to investigate (traffic accidents). The CCTO are just there to help and man the traffic. They could be first responders, but the police should be the one doing the investigating,” said Garma in Filipino.

She also said that the police officers of the traffic management group would be required to respond in 15 minutes in an incident or road accident.
Garma said that she had already relieved nine traffic group personnel on Tuesday after she witnessed an hour of delay in responding to an incident at the South Coastal Road on Monday.

“If they would not investigate, then they are lazy cops. Why would they pass their job to the CCTO?” Garma asked in Filipino.
Basirgo, for his part, told CDN in a separate interview said that they could respond right away because a police station had been assigned in every area.

CCTO Chief Francisco Ouano, for his part, assured the public that the development would not directly affect the traffic condition in the city, especially since according to their data, only around 30 to 40 vehicular accidents happen in the city every day.

“This is not the first time (we’re told to leave the investigation to the police). Because that’s really their task, not ours. We’re just here to help them,” said Ouano in Cebuano.

But he added that they are still willing to help law enforcers in other ways.