A deputized agent of the City Traffic Management System (CTMS) mans traffic in Brgy. Bankal, Lapu-Lapu City. | Photo from Lapu-Lapu City PIO
LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu – Five tanods in Brgy. Bankal in Lapu-Lapu City have already been deputized to help man traffic in their area.
Placed under the watch of the Lapu-Lapu City Traffic Management System (CTMS), they are now authorized to issue citation tickets to motorists who violate traffic rules and regulations that include illegal parking and the wearing of slippers, shorts and sleeveless shirts while driving.
The deputization of tanods will soon be expanded to the other barangays here, CTMS Chief Mario Napule said.
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Lapu-Lapu City has a total of 30 barangays.
“The plan is for all barangays to have deputized agents. Barangay Bankal was just the first because their barangay captain requested it from the mayor,” Napule said.
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So far, five tanods in Brgy. Bankal were already deputized by CTMS based on the request of Barangay Captain Celestino Pangatungan.
Other barangays like Basak, Babag, and Gun-ob have already made the same request.
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Deputized agents
Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) President Jasmine Marie Chan, an ex-officio member of the Lapu-Lapu City Council, had authored a draft ordinance that will require all of the city’s 30 barangays to have deputized agents.
Chan’s proposed measure was already passed on first reading.
As soon as the Chan’s draft ordinance is passed on third and final reading and approved by Mayor Junard Chan, Napule said they will start to train deputized agents from the 29 other barangays.
Napule said they needed the help of deputized agents to serve as force multipliers in managing traffic, especially during the morning and afternoon rush hours.
They also needed deputized agents to man traffic in the interior of the barangays, places that are no longer reached by CTMS enforcers.