Mandaue enforcer in hot water

CEBU, Philippines — A traffic enforcer of Mandaue City is in hot water for “refusing” to act on a road safety-related complaint.

The Mandaue City Legal Office (CLO) is now looking into the incident.

The enforcer, whose name withheld for security reasons, was captured on video telling a motorist, a certain Tony Tadz, to raise his complaint before the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (TEAM).

The video, which was uploaded on Facebook on September 7, has garnered over 3,400 reactions, 11,000 shares as of press time.

Tadz, a member of the Philippine Motorcycle Riders Community, was driving when he noticed a 16-wheeler container truck lacking two rear tires.

He reported it to an enforcer manning the traffic along Hernan Cortes Street in Barangay Tipolo, saying the truck is putting the lives of the motorists at risk.

The enforcer instead told Tadz to report it to TEAM.

“Akong tuyo mao ni-complain ko is the safety sa tanan. Wa ta kahibaw unsay mahitabo sa trailer nga naay container de carga. Angay pa ba huwaton nga ma disgraxa? Naa mamatay? As a concerned motorist, mao gi-inform tamo pero masuko man,” read the motorist’s post.

“Kailangan pako moadto sa inyo command center to inform nga naay nag dagan nga truck nga kulang og ligid? Unsay gamit ninyo? Display? Kaway-kaway sa kamot? I know dili lalim mag-man og traffic sa dalan kay mismo ako naka-try ko mag-man og traffic as a volunteer. Para nako sir dili na angay padaganon ing-ana asa man ang road worthy ana? Safety? Kay lagi kamo ray naka hibaw. Haaaaayyy ambot nlng gyud,” he added.

He said the truck was flagged down, but was shortly allowed to ply the street anew.

“Sad to say ila ra gi pa dagan ug balik ang truck. I don’t knw unsa nay nahitabo ni lakaw nalng pud ko to avoid mag-lalis mi sa TE (traffic enforcer),” he said.

Lawyer Allan James Sayson of CLO said an appropriate sanction would be imposed on the enforcer.

Penalties though would depend on the result of the investigation.

"I'd like to stress (that) here in Mandaue, we take pride of our enforcers there might be a few rotten ones, but rest assured we do not tolerate them," he said.

The enforcer has been working with the TEAM for 13 years, said Sayson.

"We will continue to learn from this incident and hopefully, based on experience, we will not repeat the same mistakes. We seriously take our traffic rules. In fact, kahibaw ang mga tawo nga here in Mandaue, strikto gyud ta," Sayson said. (FREEMAN)