Talisay City Mayor Gerald Anthony Gullas addresses CT-TODA and CDRRMO personnel during their early Christmas party held Saturday night, December 7. | Photo courtesy of Mayor Samsam Gullas
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Traffic enforcers and emergency rescuers also deserve a break.
Personnel of the City of Talisay Traffic Operations Development Authority (CT-TODA) and the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) were allowed to vacate their assigned post for at least an hour on Saturday, December 7, 2019, to attend the Christmas party which the city government organized for this field workers.
Mayor Gerald Anthony Gullas said they had the gathering scheduled earlier than the rest of the other city government employees especially since traffic remains manageable more than two weeks before Christmas.
“They decided to hold it yesterday (Saturday) because when the Christmas rush starts, when everyone will be Christmas rush shopping, when everyone will be Christmas panic buying, when everybody is attending their respective Christmas parties, they will be ready to serve you as public servants of the city government,” Gullas said in a Facebook post this morning, Dec. 8.
Gullas said that since it is not yet payday, Talisaynons were expected to avoid the malls for now and refrain from contributing to the city’s congestion problems.
He said that traffic enforcers and emergency responders will already have to be placed on standby as the holiday break nears as an expression of their “love for service and love for (the) Talisaynons.”
In 2017 traffic gridlock was experienced along the national highway at the vicinity of Talisay City and the neighboring Minglanilla town.
Commuters, including shoppers, were caught in traffic congestion then which was made even worst by the occurrence of road accidents along the national highway.
Another factor which contributed to the “carmageddon,” was that the absence of Minglanilla town enforcers who were attending their Christmas party. / dcb