CEBU CITY, Philippines—The Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) clamped 203 illegally-parked vehicles from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. on Thursday, August 8, in a move to clear the city streets from obstruction.
Personnel of the Cebu City Transportation Office clamp a total of 203 vehicles in a two-hour operation early morning of August 8, 2019. CDND PHOTO / Benjie Talisic
This is line with the order from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) which mandates local chief executives to conduct clearing operations.
The order came after President Rodrigo Duterte himself asked DILG during his State of the Nation Address (Sona) last July 22 to suspend mayors who refuse to clear roads.
READ: Labella: Cebu City working on clearing public roads to accomplish 60-day deadline
Retired Colonel Andres Bayarcal, chief of CCTO, said the operation started around 1 a.m. in Barangay Capitol Site and ended a few minutes past 3 a.m. in Barangay Inayawan.
Even the vehicle of government-owned television network, PTV-4, was not spared by the CCTO operatives.
CCTO also clamped the vehicle of a security agency.
The vehicle of People’s Television Network did not escape the clearing operations of the Cebu City Transportation Office early morning of August 8. CDND PHOTO / Benjie Talisic
CCTO operatives were certainly not in the mood to hear out requests of consideration as they also clamped vehicles in Barangay Tisa, known for its tasty and affordable siomai.
Vehicles of several customers of the siomai kiosks or eateries in Barangay Tisa are parked on the street.
Bayarcal said illegally-parked vehicles can cause traffic slowdowns and bottlenecks.
In case of emergencies, Bayarcal said fire trucks will have difficulty accessing streets because of illegally-parked vehicles.
Bayarcal is requesting the public to properly park their vehicles in the garage.
If they do not have spaces to park, he said it is better to pay private parking areas to prevent incidents such as the car being clamped or towed or even carnapped.
To claim a clamped vehicle, the lowest amount that most owners pay is P1, 500.
Bayarcal said more operations will be conducted by the CCTO in the coming days as the 60-day deadline of the DILG order draws near.
After 60 days, non-complying mayors would be slapped with a two-month preventive suspension while an investigation is underway, according to DILG Secretary Eduardo Año.
READ: 60-day countdown for LGUs to clear public roads starts Monday – Año
/ celr