Green no more? No formal order was issued for a change in their uniform, but some field personnel of the Cebu City Traffic Operations (CCTO) reported for work yesterday wearing their old Citom uniform.
“There seems to be a miscommunication. Confusion,” said lawyer Rafael Yap, CCTO head.
Yap said their field personnel may have thought that they should already wear their old Citom uniform now that Mayor Tomas Osmeña has assumed office.
Green, the color of CCTO uniform, is also the official color of Team Rama, the political group of former mayor Michael Rama.
Last year, Rama had the old blue and yellow Citom uniform replaced with green.
While he failed to give their exact number, Yap said, there were some parking attendants who reported for work wearing their old yellow polo shirts.
A traffic enforcer was also spotted in uptown Cebu City wearing his dark blue polo shirt with yellow Citom prints at the back.
“There was no instruction for us to go back to the old Citom uniform, but maybe, eventually we will. We are just waiting for the go signal,” said Yap.
However, he warned that if a change in uniform is implemented now, some of their field personnel may have to wear again their old and already worn out uniforms made in 2014.
“Wala man tay problema (We have no problem) with the switching of uniforms. Ang akong worry (What worries me) is the state of their old uniforms,” he told Cebu Daily News.
Yap said it would be best to delay a change in their uniform until next year after CCTO personnel collect their P5,000 annual uniform allowance that is normally released every January.
As this developed, Yap said 55 of his men were no longer given employment contract renewal by City Hall. They include 25 traffic enforcers, 18 office personnel and 12 parking aids.
The City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) used to have about 550 personnel that included 250 traffic enforcers, 200 office personnel and 100 parking aids.
Yap said that among those whose contracts were no longer renewed included former CCTO operations head Joy Tumulak, twin brother of Team Rama Councilor Dave Tumulak.
Yap said the Cebu City government assured him that he will be given at least 30 new field personnel next week. “I was told that their employment is now on process,” he told CDN.
Yap said that he is now preparing a module so that they could immediately start with the training of the new recruits.
Ulyses Intig, Joy Tumulak’s assistant, was also asked to take over the position which he vacated until a plan to integrate CCTO and Cebu City Traffic Patrol Group (CCTPG) operations is implemented.
Yap said that under the planned integration, the about 250 CCTO enforcers will already be placed under the supervision of CCTPG head Chief Insp. Arturo dela Rosa.