'Itug-an ni OIC-Traffic' page receives traffic complaints in Cebu City

CEBU, Philippines —  Reporting a traffic complaint in Cebu City is now just a few computer clicks or  phone taps away as motorists, pedestrians and concerned citizens can send it through a Facebook page called “Itug-an ni OIC-Traffic.”

According to Lyntoni Alburo, officer-in-charge of the Cebu City Transportation Office, the page will be accessible 24/7 for those with complaints about the city’s traffic management or traffic enforcers.

“So those living in the city will have the freedom and a place to go whenever they have concerns about traffic, about our employees at CCTO, and other concerns regarding traffic management, we decided to launch this page,”Alburo said in Cebuano.

Alburo asked those with complaints or concerns to send them via private message to the page, and to substantiate such complaints by including pictures or videos.

“It will be better if there are pictures and videos as attachments so we can act upon it immediately since they will serve as evidence,” he said.

The CCTO chief assured complainants that information sent to the page will remain confidential, adding that they will be received directly by her.

However, she also stressed that her office will afford due process to traffic personnel who will be faced with a complaint and not to take action unless there is sufficient basis.

CCTO and the Cebu City Police Office-Traffic Enforcement Unit (CCPO-TEU) launched the page after one of CCTO’s own traffic enforcers, Roger Cadutdut, was entrapped and arrested for allegedly extorting money from an undercover cop on M.J. Cuenco Avenue.

Alburo also urged those who may be legally or illegally apprehended for traffic violations to directly get in touch with CTTO and not to negotiate with or give traffic enforcers any motive to extort them.

“Go straight to our office because we have a legal office to entertain and serve you. Should our legal officers be not around, I’m also ready to entertain you if I’m in my office,” she said.

Complainants can also message or call CCTO’s hotlines 0906-538-9631 (Globe) and 0991-224-1619 (DITO).

Meanwhile, Police Lieutenant Colonel Clark Arriola, CCPO-TEU head, said the project was hatched through the partnership between the police and CCTO.

“The CCTO cannot function that way without the good partnership with traffic enforcement unit (of the police), and vice versa. We cannot be effective here in the police force without the partnership with local government,” he said.

Arriola urged the public to send complaints through “Itug-an ni OIC-Traffic,” taking cue from existing Facebook pages, which have been swamped with complaints from the public. — Deogracia William Bemida, Silliman University Intern, JMD (FREEMAN)