Cebu Mayor Michael Rama in a meeting with police officials finally warned PNP leaders they needed to improve their performance following the string of bold robberies in the city. Mayor Mike this time issued an ultimatum. He imposed a three-strike policy that means a police official gets sacked if three robberies happen within his jurisdiction. The police chief will have to ship out or shape up.
For his part Cebu city police chief Col. Noli Romana said that he has nowhere to go but out if that happens. If three of his police chief get sacked for non-performance, Romana vowed that he, too, would step down as police chief.
Peace and order is a community concern. It needs the cooperation of citizens, not just the police force. For example, convenience stores doing business in the city that don’t have security guards are vulnerable to crime.
Robbers are getting smarter. They just monitor the movement of policemen and note when they are away from the target of their criminal plans.
If we want good peace and order in the city we have to do all that’s necessary to prevent crime.
But in order to be effective, we also need the presence of the police and high police visibility so they can respond immediately to an alarm.
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If there is one that should also shape up, it is the DPWH specifically ongoing road projects in Metro Cebu. In the junction of A.S. Fortuna in Mandaue City, the DPWH destroyed the road to put up a concrete pavement. But the work has been going on for nearly six months, causing traffic congestion in the area.
The junction of A. S. Fortuna and Briones Avenue has become a choke point for traffic because the DPWH dug a hole in the corner for drainage plus the fact that the agency is making a pre fabricated drainage line right in the busy road. This makes it very difficult for vehicles to make a right turn from the highway to the A.S. Fortuna.
One day a tremendous traffic jam happened along the highway towards the DFA office because the DPWH had another road project in front of the Atrium Mall in Mandaue City. Traffic was at a standstill along the highway. The project drew the ire of many drivers and commuters. In the end the DPWH had to cover the hole on the road with steel plates to restore sanity.
In Cebu City Mayor Rama called the attention of the DPWH to the same practice along Mango Avenue near the old White Gold restaurant. The contractor is making use of the road to fabricate something thus closing nearly half of the road.
Mayor Rama warned the DPWH to remove the pre-fabricated apparatus in Mango Avenue and transfer it elsewhere.
The mayor’s order to the DPWH makes sense because traffic is already very bad in the city. The same problem is observed on the ongoing road project in V. Rama Ave. where the contractor has practically destroyed part of the road to prepare it for another layer of concrete.
While we welcome road improvements and can bear some inconvenience, we also wish that the contractor would be sensitive to needs of residents by seeing to it that steps are taken not to worsen traffic that is already very bad in the work site.
Why can’t the DPWH impose a 24-hour road work schedule for these critical areas so that projects don’t worsen traffic in the city?
The DPWH needs to coordinate with local authorities in order to inform the public well about an ongoing road project and help man the traffic while the work is underway.