Motorists are caught in traffic along Fuente Osmeña in this August 2019 photo.| CDN Digital photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Motorists, who would be stuck in traffic areas in Cebu City, can call the Itug-an ni CD hotline and report which specific junction does not have any police officers from the Traffic Police Group to man the traffic.
Police Major Allan Rosario, Traffic Police Group of the Cebu City Police Office (TPG-CPPO) head, told CDN Digital in a phone interview that as part of the full alert status that had been issued to them, all intersections in the city, which was expected to be traffic congested during peak hours should have traffic police officers to direct the traffic.
The Itug-an ni CD hotlines are for Globe subscribers: 0966-465-2556 and for Smart subscribers: 0918-268-2846.
They can also send a message at the Itug-an ni CD Facebook page.
He said that having these police officers on the street was also a way to deter crimes which would mean that the police officers assigned in these specific areas should be present during peak hours in the morning and afternoon.
“Sana ma identify nila para malagyan ng personnel. Pwede nila itawag sa hotline,” said Rosario.
(Hopefully they could identify the areas and could call the hotline so we could assign our personnel.)
According to Rosario, areas that will be mostly congested during the holiday seasons are those near malls where people are expected to flock.
With this, Rosario added a reminder to motorists to always lock their vehicles before leaving them in the parking lot.
He said if possible, valuable items such as jewelry, cellphones and laptops must not be left inside the vehicles.
The drivers should also check their vehicles first before traveling.
Meanwhile, Hector Arcenal of the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) said all their traffic enforcers had no longer any days off until after the Sinulog celebration.
Arcenal said that the CTTO had at least 200 traffic enforcers and they would be out on the field to man traffic during the holidays until the Sinulog celebrations.
However, he said that they would have to address those absences due to emergencies, which could not be predicted and would often leave areas without officers.
He also said they had deployed more traffic enforcers in traffic congested areas especially those near malls since these areas were where the people would be expected because of the holiday season.
Arcenal assured that they were maximizing deployment of their officers and were in constant communication with the Traffic Police Group so that they could coordinate in easing the traffic in traffic prone areas.| dbs