‘Low morale’ over death of a traffic enforcer killed by reckless Korean driver

CITOM: RISKY JOBS

It’s a tough time for the traffic department of Cebu city after a female enforcer was killed by the impact of a speeding van driven by a Korean in the Banilad-Talamban corridor last week.

“Right now the morale of our people is very low,” said Raffy Yap, executive director of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom).

“Barato ra di ay kaayo nag kinabuhi. Sa P30, 000 ra di ay maka bail na ka. But still they wake up every morning to do their jobs,” he told Cebu Daily News.
(Life is cheap. With P30,000 one can avail of bail)

The Korean woman driver, Sun Kyung Heo, is out on bail on a charge of reckless imprudence resulting to homicide.

At the vigil wake of traffic enforcer Maria Theresa Bascones yesterday afternoon,  only two women and two children occupied the air-conditioned chapel in St. Peter Memorial Chapel in Imus Street.

Bascones, 38, was single, and had worked in Citom for 12 years.

Her picture rested on a white casket covered with a Philippine flag.

“Maayo man na si auntie. Motabang man na siya sa ubang tawo,” said one of her nieces, a girl with a ponytail under 10 years old.

(Auntie was a good person. She would help other people.)

Bascones was manning heavy traffic near a U-turn slot outside Gaisano Country Mall on Tuesday when the accident occurred about 6 p.m.

The Korean driver was exiting the mall and turned left to get on Governor Cuenco Avenue.

“It happened at a peak hour when traffic should have been slow.  We (traffic enforcers) do as much as we can to reduce accidents in the city but there is a callous disregard shown for our personnel,” said Yap.

Flower stands from the “Citom family” and government offices accompany the vigil wake of traffic enforcer Maria Teresa Bascones, who was hit by a van driven by a Korean woman along the busy Ban-Tal corridor. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

Yap said he becomes emotional talking about this death because he was the one who tapped Bascones to work as a traffic aide after she served as a parking aid for the last 10 to 12 years.

For being killed in the line of duty, there’s no extra compensation other than a standard P10,000 burial assistance from the city government.

Citom board chairman Ruben Almendras earlier said Citom employment could be offered to a qualified member of Bascones family.

Yap clarified that her death would not stop Citom enforcers from doing their job or the city from enforcing a month-old emergency policy of Mayor Michael Rama to enforce “no left turn” in traffic-clogged Banilad-Talamban corridor in north Cebu City.

The bulk of Citom’s close to 200 traffic enforcers  have been shifted to the Ban-Tal corridor since July 1.

“Policy implementation and morale are two different issues,”  said Yap.

As a result of the accident,  Mayor Rama instructed Citom to prohibit vehicles along Governor Cuenco Avenue from turning left to enter Country Mall.

They will enforce this until the mayor returns from his US trip next month.

Bascones was the second Citom enforcer who died in the line of duty in two years.

Traffic enforcer Armando Abdon Daligdig, 47, was gunned down while directing vehicles on the same road, Governor Cuenco Avenue in barangay Banilad about 7:20 a.m. on June 6, 2013.

A murder complaint was filed in court against ex-policeman Geoffrey Borinaga who was identified as the gunman.

The two had a previous confrontation, when the Citom enforcer stopped Borinaga for a traffic violation.

Yap said the work of a traffic enforcer is a thankless and risky job.

They endure the heat and the rain. They absorb the anger and insults of motorists who are caught in traffic jams.

“It’s all part of the risks of the job but we always tell our personnel that no matter what happens they should continue to work and remain courteous,” he said.

SALARY, NO HAZARD PAY
Traffic aides are paid at least P10, 401 to P11,000 per month and have standard government benefits like GSIS, Philhealth, and Pag-ibig coverage, according to Dominic Diño, head of the city’s Human Resources and Development Office. They also receive a P5,000 annual clothing allowance and bonus of one month’s salary.

The city  provides burial assistance of at least P10, 000 or more depending on the mayor’s discretion.

“We don’t give hazard pay. That’s not allowed by the Department of Budget and Management,” Diño told CDN.

City Hall is still processing the P10,000 burial claim for Bascones.

It’s not clear who booked the vigil wake for her at St. Peter’s, a private mortuary not covered by City Hall benefits.

It’s possible the Korean national, whose lawyer earlier promised to extend “assistance” to the victim, is shouldering the expenses.

The city legal office will represent Bascones’ family in the hearings of the criminal case against the Korean. But if the victim’s family later softens and withdraws interest in the legal proceedings, the charges will be eventually dismissed./ With correspondent Michelle Joy Padayhag

Related Stories: