Would solutions to traffic problems be bloody too?
In expressing his frustration over the relief of his trusted key regional and city police officials, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña threatened to stop supporting the anti-illegal drug campaign of President Rodrigo Duterte and instead put all his efforts into solving other problems in the city and leave the police to wage their bloody anti-illegal drug campaign by themselves.
Osmeña said he will now focus his energy and resources into solving the worsening traffic problem in the city and would no longer give P 50,000 cash reward for any dead drug personality.
He also vowed to stop the monthly allowance to new police officials detailed in the city that replaced his favored police officers as well as the gasoline allocation for police cars and the additional police vehicles. He also ordered the recall of all city-owned guns issued to local police.
Would Osmeña be employing the same strategy that he used in his anti-illegal drug campaign where he put a price on every suspected drug pusher neutralized by the police?
Would the mayor be arming the city’s traffic enforcers so they will have a weapon to use in case traffic violators refuse to be booked? I hope this is not the reason why the good mayor is recalling all city-owned guns in order to arm traffic enforcers.
If so, let us prepare ourselves and expect that not only wheels will roll on the streets but also the heads of dead motorists for refusing to follow traffic rules.
It would surely make our streets a virtual killing field because of the high number of drivers disregarding traffic rules.
The mayor was firm in his decision to stop helping the police despite the plea of Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronaldo “Bato” Dela Rosa not to leave them alone in the fight against illegal drugs.
He did explain to the mayor that those who were relieved are suspected to have ties with the drug syndicate.
If we follow the same pattern used in the anti-illegal drug operation in solving traffic congestion, we can expect that those who will be neutralized first are the poor public utility jeepney drivers and crisscrossing motorcycle drivers while those in luxury cars can violate traffic rules as much as they can.
There is a reason to be tough but not necessarily fatal in decongesting the city street of traffic violators.
What we need are incorruptible traffic enforcers who will refuse the offer of bribes and those who would not view traffic enforcement as an opportunity to mulct money.
It’s a reality that there are more vehicles plying in the city than what the roads can accommodate but congestion is worsened by habal-habal drivers making illegal terminals in the highway, wakes that use tents occupying half of the road, illegal parking, counterflowing vehicles and a traffic enforcement unit whose agents are scarcely seen during peak hours.
Since we cannot yet widen our roads to increase its capacity, the strict and proper implementation of traffic rules coupled with conducting road traffic education to our motorists, are perhaps the most logical solution to lessen road congestion in the city.
I am on the road for at least two hours a day and endure all types of motorists who feel entitled to violate rules because they are in a hurry.
I would be glad if the good mayor would implement strict traffic policies and no-nonsense apprehension of violators minus any harsh treatment to motorists or worse, seeing motorists slumped on the road courtesy of law enforcement agents.