Over 20 gov’t vehicles issued with citation tickets

CEBU, Philippines — More than 20 government vehicles were issued citation tickets for obstructing the bike lanes after the Cebu Bike Lanes Board had a frequent operation on Wednesday.

According to the report of Ramil Ayuman, assistant on special projects of Mayor Michael Rama, the board insisted that there is no exemption in their operation even though it was a government vehicle violating the rule.

According to Bernard Maraasin, executive director of the Cebu Bike Lanes Board, their operation is part of their "Oplan Ratsada sa Kalsada, Padayon ang Disiplina" which coincides with the full implementation of Section 8 of the City Ordinance 2408 or the "Obstruction to the Bike Lanes".

Those cars are abandoned and neglected on the road.

"Mohatag og pabor ang among opisina kung ang red plate/government vehicle gigamit sa oras sa trabaho o operation sa tagsa-tagsang opisina, pero kung inyo lang kanang biyaan ug pasagdaan nga walay balidong rason, dili kami magduha-duha og dakop sa mga driver niini," part of the message from the Cebu Bike Lanes Board.

The violator will be fined P500 for the first offense. For the second offense, a fine of P1,000 while for the third offense is P1,500 or imprisonment of not less than six months.

The SBLB office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the SBLB Operation Center, Cebu City Sports Institute, Barangay Sawang Calero.

The government urges motorists to respect the bike lanes by following its rules.

According to the board, it is also not appropriate to make the bike lanes into terminals like what other drivers of public utility vehicles did.

They will make frequent operations to stop such perverse behavior. —/GMR (FREEMAN)