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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Mandaue PUJ drivers protest Cebu City ban
Drivers and operators of Mandaue City public utility jeepneys (PUJs) rallied in front of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) office and at City Hall yesterday morning.
They were protesting the full implementation of City Ordinance 1837, which prevents PUJs from Mandaue from reaching downtown Cebu City, and City Ordinance 2072, which imposed stiffer penalties on traffic violators.
Starting from the North Reclamation Area, at least 500 drivers and operators aboard an estimated 100 PUJs drove towards N. Bacalso Ave. and clogged traffic for an hour.
Citom personnel, however, barricaded the gates and nobody from the office went out to speak with the protesters.
Around 11 a.m., the protesters then went to City Hall and stayed there for 45 minutes.
They blocked M.C. Briones St. with their PUJs, forcing Citom enforcers to direct to other streets PUJs plying at least five routes.
The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) also sent its Civil Disturbance Management (CDM) team supposedly to force the protesters into clearing the area.
They, however, yielded after a short huddle with Supt. Mariano Natu-el, who was already ordered to impound the PUJs if they are not removed from the middle of the road.
The drivers and operators, members of the Nagkahiusang Drayber sa Sugbo (Nadsu), left after a short noise barrage by blowing the horns of their PUJs.
Nadsu chairperson Anthony Pogado said Natu-el assured them that Mayor Tomas Osmeña will hold a dialogue with them upon his return from an official visit to Kaoshiung.
The mayor left for Cebu City’s sister city in Taiwan yesterday afternoon. City Councilor Augustus Pe Jr. and public information officer Nagiel Bañacia accompanied him.
He said City Ordinance 1837, which mandates that inter-city PUJs load and unload passengers only in designated terminals, is oppressive because it deprives them of income.
City Ordinance 2072 states that aside from being issued a citation ticket or a temporary operator’s permit, the erring driver should also surrender his ID, which will be returned only after he pays the fine.
Upon conviction by the court, the person should also be fined with P1,000 to P2,000, aside from serving a jail term.
Drivers have the option to pay the compromise fines of P500 for the first offense, P700 for the second, and P900 for the third offense, to prevent the filing of a complaint before the court.
City Councilor Sylvan Jakosalem, chairman of the council committee on energy, transportation, communication and other utilities, asked that the drivers make formal their request for the City to suspend implementing the ordinances so the council can deliberate on them.
“We’ll give it one more change. We could review the ordinances. But during the review process, they must obey the law,” he said.
The protesters even taunted Jakosalem and warned his reelection bid would be in jeopardy. He was one of three city councilors who sponsored City Ordinance 2072.
Pogado said they will wait for the mayor to arrive and talk with him before plotting other forms of protest to force the City to rethink City Ordinance 1837 and possibly amend it to their favor. (RHM)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (May 18, 2006 issue)
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