Thursday, October 18, 2007 Citom plans to set up north branch
THE Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) will open a north district field office where violators can settle their fines and motorists can seek assistance.
The Citom board decided on the move after receiving requests for it and complaints by north district residents who find the Citom office on N. Bacalso Ave. out of their way.
The Citom board yesterday authorized City Councilor Sylvan Jakosalem to negotiate with the private sector to set up the office.
The move came a week after the body asked the Cebu City Government to prioritize the approval of a proposed ordinance authorizing traffic enforcers to confiscate drivers’ licenses.
Unless deputized by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) 7 and given Temporary Operator’s Permits (TOPs), Citom personnel can only issue citation tickets to drivers who violate City traffic ordinances.
A TOP is issued for national traffic law violations. It is good for 48 hours, which is deemed enough time for the driver to redeem his license.
Last August, LTO Chief Reynaldo Berroya canceled all deputations of non-organic personnel after receiving reports that policemen abuse their powers by extorting from drivers.
Yesterday, Jakosalem said they will coordinate with the different traffic bodies in Metro Cebu, specifically in the cities of Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, and Talisay, for them to honor a citation ticket Citom will issue later on.
This is if the City Council approves the proposed ordinance. The councilor is still fine-tuning the measure, but pledged to submit it for inclusion in next week’s session.
He said Citom needs to come up with memoranda of understanding with the cities so they will respect the ticket Citom will issue to erring drivers.
No parking
Citom last week asked the City Council to prioritize Jakosalem’s proposed ordinance after the LTO took back the deputation of Cebu City Police Office Traffic Group policemen.
The deputation had allowed policemen to issue TOPs to drivers for violating national traffic laws.
On the setting up of a Citom north office, Jakosalem said Citom might even open another branch for the south district so violators settling their fines will no longer have to go to the main office and endure the lack of parking spaces.
“I was authorized to set up the office for the north district. Maybe Councilor (Raul) Alcoseba will do it for the south district because he is one of the district’s councilors,” Jakosalem said.
Jakosalem heads the council committee on energy, transportation, communication, and other utilities. Alcoseba heads the committee on traffic management.
In asking the private sector for help, Jakosalem said he is hopeful that the north office will be ready in the next few months.
He is considering opening the north Citom office in a space in SM City Cebu at the North Reclamation Area. He is studying the possibility of City renting a space in the mall “at a reasonable rate.” But any other place is okay, he said. (RHM)
