CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña is ready to defend the City’s towing operations in court, and warned of a traffic management breakdown if an injunction on the operations of private towing companies is granted.

Osmeña said yesterday that he would follow the law should the court decide to stop the operations of the towing companies contracted by the City Government.

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Anticipate

The mayor said he anticipated the civil case filed by Tinago Barangay Councilor Joel Garganera and other vehicle owners. He said any of his policies that Garganera attacks always ends in a lawsuit.

“But I will have to follow the law. I will not challenge the court on that,” he told a news conference yesterday.

Last Tuesday, the complainants asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order on the towing operations of One Stop Towing Services and Road Warriors Towing and Motor Services, since their services did not go through the required bidding processes and prior authorization from the City Council.

The case was filed against Osmeña, Vice Mayor Michael Rama, the Cebu City Council, Arnel Tancinco, the executive officer of the Cebu City Traffic Operations and Management (Citom), the Citom board, City Treasurer Wilfredo Evardome, owner of One Stop Towing Services, and Rosa Pagador, owner of the Road Warriors Towing and Motor Services.

Parking

Osmeña warned that if the TRO is granted, there would be rampant illegal parking and overnight parking in the city’s streets, which he said will pose risks to motorists and residents.

During emergencies, he said, fire trucks, police cars and ambulances will have difficulty getting access if the roads are blocked by illegally parked vehicles.

“Not only are you creating a mess, you’re also creating a hazard. In certain areas, dili makasud ang fire trucks, especially in areas where there’s overnight parking. What will happen? Mudako gyud ang sunog,” Osmeña said.

“That’s one of the biggest risks, because you’re risking lives here... then you will blame the mayor. So we’ll just have to defend it in court,” he continued.

Road Warriors’ contract is still in effect, while One Stop Towing is operating without a contract, but has a provisional authority from the Office of the Mayor.

During the City Council session yesterday, Councilor Augustus Pe Jr. submitted the draft of the revised contract of One Stop Towing, Road Warriors and A-Plus Towing to the committee on laws for review.