A FAILED bet led to the reported pullout starting Monday morning (July 16) of traffic board enforcers Mambaling where construction of an underpass has worsened the traffic congestion. As of 10 a.m., Mayor Tomas Osmeña had not yet decided to return the city's traffic crew to the area.
Who'd be liable under the law? Technically, the mayor, not LTO Regional Director Victor Caindec. It was the mayor's job. Even if they had agreed, formally and in writing, which they had not, it would've been illegal. Heads of government offices cannot validly swap functions between themselves. Caindec could be sued for usurpation of functions.
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Caindec chickened out
The LTO chief backed out of his challenge -- he would fix the mess on condition that if he'd succeed, Tomas would resign -- contending that the mayor didn't formally agree to the terms.
The mayor initially said yes, even offering to endorse Caindec for mayor. On dyCM radio Monday, Tomas shifted gears, saying only the city's voters could throw him out of office. Even if the two officials had signed and sealed the originally intended bet, it would've been illegal.
Caindic, who said in his Linked info that he is "not fond of playing corporate b.s.," played along with the mayor in a b.s. to the public.
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Is Caindec a traffic whiz?
He had presented himself as a traffic wizard in daring the mayor to quit if he could solve the Mambaling crisis. The public was impressed. Even Tomas initially thought Caindec could do it. When he accepted the challenge, the mayor let the door ajar for the possibility that the LTO chief might succeed.
When Caindec called off the bet, the public, initially impressed by the bravado, began to question his skill set.
His experience, as chief of Citom (the old name of the city traffic board), was for only three months and, as private sector rep in the agency, for two years and 10 months. Cebu City's traffic woes require exceedingly greater that Caindec might offer.
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LTO chief's strong suit
A business management grad of the University of the Philippines (not specified: from U.P. Cebu or U.P. Diliman), Caindec's work experience had been mainly on selling and marketing: with companies dealing with lighting fixtures and equipment, and an advertising agency as account manager.
A line written by himself or with his approval drums up his asset: "With strong demonstrable capabilities in developing solid business results... and optimizing commercial operations for various companies." And this: "expert in navigating complexities both in private and public sector."
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Speaking out to a 'bully'
Caindic's current feat though is speaking out to, as the mayor's critics call him, the City Hall "bully." Nobody in government had engaged with Tomas in recent history in a drawn-out verbal tussle.
Tomas, trying to cut the LTO chief "down to size," told dyCM's Jason Monteclar that Caindec is "nobody." Widening his line of fire, Tomas said, just as Mike Rama and Edgar Labella are "nobody" without Mike Dino, the presidential assistant for the Visayas who, Tomas said, put him in the LTO.
On a roll, the mayor spewed out more fire, saying at one point, "Mga tawo ni Duterte badlongon... Tanan." Tomas was complaining against public transport drivers who rampantly violate laws and ordinances on traffic, adding that the crisis is not limited to the Mambaling problem but includes many other ills of the city.
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