IT would have been nice if he really meant it. You know, the “no-one-is-exempted-from-traffic-laws” yada yada.
Yet, why do I have a feeling that it has become personal for Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña? That he has singled out the Cebu Doctors’ University Hospital? Otherwise, why would he bring up the owner’s luxury car that is allegedly parked in the hospital’s parking lot?
“You look at the Lamborghini of Dr. Larrazabal, it’s all parked inside while the ambulance is outside. All luxury cars are inside so the ambulances are outside because they think they can do away with it, but no,” the mayor said in a news conference.
And so personnel of the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) clamped two ambulances—one belonging to Cebu Doctors’ and the other to the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation—that were illegally parked outside the hospital last Wednesday and ended up drawing flak on social media after photos of the clamped vehicles were posted online.
Don’t get me wrong. I admire the fact that the CCTO is cracking down on traffic violators because nothing riles me up more than motorists who blatantly violate traffic laws.
But ambulances? Really?
What if the mayor had an emergency and needed to be rushed to the hospital? What if a member of his family needed immediate medical assistance and an ambulance was not available because it had been clamped, or towed?
Oh wait, the Osmeña family would never call an ambulance from Cebu Doctors’ considering the “bad blood” between the mayor and the hospital management, but there are many, many others out there who rely on the service and who don’t care that the hospital refuses to pay business taxes to the City.
You see, Cebu Doctors’ and five other hospitals took the City to court in 2007 so the latter could stop collecting business taxes from them. The hospitals said they are exempted because they are “non-stock, non-profit” establishments.
I don’t know what happened to the case but it looks like the mayor refuses to let go or move on.
Why else would he be so emphatic in giving the go-ahead to clamp the two ambulances when the CCTO personnel informed him about the situation?
The hospital, for its part, released a statement saying that the matter has been settled and that it has addressed the parking problem.
“All these efforts done just to provide our patients and clients a better healing environment. Also, be assured that we will continue to deliver compassionate, quality and innovative health care to Cebu and the rest of the region,” it said.
Anyway, the reason I’m rather dubious about the mayor’s real intentions is because he hasn’t acted on the rampant illegal parking that happens along R. Landon St.
If he doesn’t know what I’m talking about, it’s that narrow stretch from the corner of Pelaez to Osmeña Blvd., particularly in front of the Fesags office. Vehicles occupy one lane of the two-lane road, forcing traffic to stretch all the way down to the corner of Junquera on weekdays.
If the mayor and the CCTO can address this problem, then I will support Osmeña on this matter 100 percent.