Is Cebu City allowing political motorcades?
A Run Sara Run van motorcade. | file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City is finalizing its guidelines on political motorcades and caravans that are expected to take place in the city now that aspirants have filed their Certificates of Candidacy (COC).
Councilor Joel Garganera, the chief implementor of the EOC, said in a press conference, that two national parties have sought permission to hold motorcades in the city on Saturday and Sunday.
These national parties requested a motorcade with 80 to 100 vehicles traversing a certain route, and most probably moving across local government units (LGUs) as well.
“Atong gitan-aw diha kay ang pagconverge diha. Kasagaran ana magmisa, although nagexpect ta nga monitored ang attendees kay naa may capacity. Ang problema napud ana ig human, naa ba na silay activities. If moapply sila for motorcade, motorcade ra gyod,” said Garganera.
As of now, the motorcade guidelines used by the city are patterned to that of the Archdiocese of Cebu, because their parishes often hold small motorcades for local sitio-based fiestas.
Based on the church’s guidelines, the motorcade should only be within the vicinity of the sitio or barangay and must be coordinated with the Cebu City Traffic Office (CCTO).
For bigger political motorcades, the EOC has coordinated with the CCTO to map out the routes, because the most affected sector would be the motorists.
“Akong reminders sa mga organizers nga this may cause negative backlash sa residents especially sa motorists. Di ta mocreate og traffic as much as possible,” said Garganera.
A bigger challenge than motorcades is the caravans. The EOC said caravans traverse many LGUs and this will need coordination among the localities.
The EOC said if the political organizations choose to hold a caravan they will have to stick at the national roads as the city government will not allow a huge group of cars to pass through the smaller city and barangay roads.
For now, the EOC is still studying how many cars will be allowed in a motorcade or in a caravan.
What is sure is that the request for 100 cars may be significantly reduced to ensure that health protocols are well implemented and traffic is not impeded for a long period of time. /rcg
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