Centcom lukewarm on bid to open camp road to public
The military’s Central Command says anyone passing through their camp would have to undergo security checks, further aggravating traffic from the nearby Banilad-Talamban area. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s proposal to open the Central Command road to motorists may not be approved by the Armed Forces, the Central Command said yesterday.
Centcom spokesman Lt. Col. Luzmindo Mamauag Jr. said opening the road poses security risks to them.
He said motorists need to undergo security checks before they could be allowed to enter the camp.
Mamauag said civilians entering the camp are required to obtain security clearances.
Their vehicles will also be checked at the entrance before they will be allowed to go in, he said.
“If you consider it, it would also aggravate traffic if you enter the camp because everyone would be stopped at the entrance. So traffic will also worsen,” he said.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña earlier said he was looking at the possibility of asking Centcom to allow motorists’ use of their access road that is parallel to the Banilad-Talamban Road.
This was one of several solutions the mayor is considering aside from building 10 flyovers and underpasses in the city.
Mamauag said he is unaware if Mayor Osmeña had written their headquarters about his request.
If in case Osmeña had written them, his letter will have to be referred to Lt. Gen. Nicanor Vivar, the Centcom Commander, for action.
But Mamauag said opening Centcom roads to the public is unlikely to happen.
“Maybe Mayor Tomas (Osmeña) knows that there are specific rules and regulations in the camp and we are very much concerned about security. This is a military camp. Anyone entering the camp will have to obtain security clearances if they are allowed to enter in the first place,” he said.
Osmeña said limited parking space is one of several factors aggravating the city’s traffic congestion.
“The problem is so massive. It cannot be done with one magic move and then the traffic is gone,” he said in yesterday’s press conference.
He ruled out road widening, saying the value of real estate rose in recent years and it was cheaper to build a road than to buy the road space from land owners./UP Cebu Intern Amy Macalinao
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