Dangerous fiesta celebrations

April and May are the months when the traffic situation in the city would be relatively light since there are no classes.  These are also festive months with several places celebrating the feasts of their patron saints.

The downside of these celebrations is the danger that the fiesta organizer puts several people into as they hold activities in areas near the highways.  Since the venues are close to the highways, the people watching the nightly entertainment are often forced to occupy one or two lanes of the highway.

This early, the authorities should already call the attention of the fiesta organizers about safety.

Two places that we noticed where people spill to the highway are Basak-Pardo, Cebu City and Pakigne, Minglanilla, which seem to celebrate their feasts about the same time.

The barangay officials must also do their share of ensuring the safety of the people and not only take part in the fun aspects of the celebration and of course the solicitation of funds.

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CITOM’s effort to implement the ordinance banning night parking is commendable, but the traffic body only deserves praise if it can implement traffic laws during the waking hours.

There was a report that the CITOM will cut the manpower posted around the Banilad area by half now that the motorists are used to the traffic set up there.

We hope that this would mean that the once neglected rest of the city would have better traffic law enforcement.

Take for example the two areas of Gorordo Ave. at corner Arch. Reyes, which drivers have converted into some sort of terminal.

Maybe the CITOM can also be brave enough to clean up the area of B. Rodriguez St. particularly that part outside Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, which the barangay officials have long tried to clean up.

There are many disappointed motorists and CITOM needs to work hard on getting he confidence of the public back.

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Here’s another email from Jesson Morata, this time about the check points in Mandaue City.

Here’s what he has to say:

I commend the elements of the Mandaue Police Office and of the Barangay Tanods of Barangay Subangdaku for conducting random checkpoints along the major thoroughfares of the Reclamation Area. The other weekend, it caught most motorist’s off-guard. It was a big help especially in curbing crimes in the area.

The other weekend, they were able to seize at least 4 motorcycle-riding men who failed to present registration papers and licenses to the authorities. This was one of the information I got from one of the personnel assisting the checkpoint. I laud them for their courtesy to the motorists and passengers alike, apologizing to them the delay they had caused for conducting the checkpoint. Unlike the experience I had the last year when I was in Tudela Camotes. Policemen were conducting a checkpoint led by the police chief. What displeased me that time was the unprofessional approach of the policemen especially in dealing with the motorists. They did not even bother to neither say please nor show courtesy when conducted the check-point. Most of them were bad-mannered that terrified most motorists in the town. I think as enforcers of the law, courtesy should be practiced in dealing with different types of people be it in the urban areas or in our towns.

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