Truck drags down electric posts in Mandaue City

CEBU, Philippines - Four electrical posts fell down after they were uprooted as their tangled wires were dragged overhead by a passing trailer truck yesterday along S. Jayme Street in Sitio Kagape, Barangay Paknaan, Mandaue City, causing temporary power outage and heavy traffic in the area.

No one was reported hurt although Khai Morpos, a resident of the barangay, said that her gate was badly damaged.

Mandaue City Public Information Officer Jun Veliganio said the repairs caused heavy traffic in the area as a team from the Visayan Electric Company (VECO) hurriedly worked on fixing the posts.

Power in the area was temporarily cut off but was restored by 4 p.m.

Veliganio said the trailer truck was passing through the street at around 12:37 p.m. when the wires dangling from the posts got snagged.

City Councilor Malcolm Andaya-Sanchez said he has been calling the attention of VECO and other telecommunication companies regarding sagging and leaning posts in the city.

The City Council already passed an ordinance, which is now under review by the Council Committee on Laws and Ordinance, to declare as "public nuisance utility posts and sagging wires of the city" that are unsafe and defective.

The proposed ordinance sponsored by City Councilor Elstone Dabon, chairman of the Committee on Utilities, said spaghetti wires are still a perennial problem in the city.

"The City of Mandaue finds that unsafe utility posts and sagging wires have increasingly become a problem and already poses safety concerns for the public," Dabon said.

Under the proposed ordinance, these posts "shall be removed within 30 days" after the approval of the resolution. The companies will be notified in writing of their existing utility posts and wires which are declared as public nuisance.

In case the utility companies fail to comply within the period allowed in the written notice, the city government may remove the posts and all expenses incurred will be charged to the concerned utility company.

Under the ordinance, a fine of P5,000 will be imposed for non-compliance.

Meanwhile, the white paint on pedestrian crossings in Mandaue City has faded and this prompted Councilor Sanchez to request the City Engineering Office and the Department of General Services for the repaint works.

According to Sanchez, it is necessary to repaint the pedestrian stripes as the city has recently launched a strict implementation of its anti-jaywalking ordinance.

"To be able to effectively direct pedestrians to use the pedestrian lanes when crossing particularly busy intersections such as those found within the vicinity of City Hall and at school crossings, it is imperative that pedestrian lanes are properly and clearly marked on the streets," Sanchez said in his Resolution No. 34-2017.

To date, the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (TEAM) already issued 18,412 in citation tickets to violators of jaywalking. The traffic department also collected P1.359-million in administrative penalties such as issuance of citation tickets for jaywalking, towing, anti-dispatching and other traffic violations. (FREEMAN)