MAYOR Michael Rama is also set to fly to Manila next week to visit the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and lobby the concerns of Public Utility Jeepney (PUJ) drivers in Cebu City, who joined the transport strike last Thursday.
“It’s not only asking for the penalties to be lowered, I will also ask them how they arrived with such a policy. What process did they go through and what are their bases on why penalties have reached thousands and millions,” Rama said.
The drivers were opposing a new DOTC policy which increased fines for traffic violations which took effect last Thursday.
Rama said he is not in favor of the “oppressive” fines.
“You don’t have to instill fear, you develop respect of the law. I don’t want people to be afraid, I want people to respect the law that’s why they comply,” he said.
Meanwhile, the implementation of the Bus Rapid Transportation (BRT) System Project will be jointly supervised by the Cebu City Government and the Regional Development Council (RDC) as suggested by National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) 7 Regional Director Efren Carreon
“We suggest that the RDC-Regional Project Monitoring Committee (RPMC) and the City Government jointly monitor the implementation of the project,” Carreon said in a letter addressed to Rama last week.
Rama earlier told NEDA that the Cebu City government must be actively involved in the operations of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in the city.
Carreon said the project is one of the major projects envisioned in the Updated Central Visayas Regional Development Investment Program for 2011-2016.
The Cebu BRT will be the first BRT system available in the country.
“It is a bus-based mass transit system that is flexible and more affordable offering safe, efficient and comfortable travel,” Carreon said in his letter.
He added that the Cebu BRT was endorsed by the Central Visayas RDC on March 26, 2012 to the NEDA Investment Cooridination Committee (NEDA-ICC) for approval.
This was during the time of Rama as RDC chairperson.
Rama welcomed the acknowledgement.
“If I didn’t fight for it and have it endorsed under my term as RDC chairman, how can there be a BRT. Documents don’t lie,” he said.
Rama also said he has no problem with jointly monitoring the project implementation with the RDC-RPMC.
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