IN THE first half of the year, Davao City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) recorded a 64 percent decrease of apprehension for jaywalkers in Davao City to 7,565 from 20,964 in same period in 2018.
During the AFP-PNP press forum on Wednesday at The Royal Mandaya Hotel, CTTMO head Dionisio Abude bared that there is a decrease of 13,399 violators of the Anti-Jaywalking ordinance in Davao City this year.
Of the 7,565 apprehensions, 3,929 of which have been settled while 3,727 remain unsettled.
CTTMO intensified its apprehension against jaywalkers in November 2017 to instill discipline to the Dabawenyos in crossing at pedestrian lanes to at least minimize traffic and accidents.
Dionisio noted that the decline of the number of apprehensions could be attributed to the series of activities, whether international, national or local, held in Davao City. Since their personnel were deployed to secure the smooth flow of traffic while the events were ongoing, violators were easily checked and apprehended.
“Sunod sunod ‘yong activity natin from January meron tayong Davraa, meron tayong Palaro, tapos sinundan ng Ironman, sinundan ng Araw ng Davao, kaya medyo yong personnel natin, kagaya ngayon, ‘yong personnel natin kailangan i-deploy din natin sa area kaya medyo [mababa] ang anti-jaywalking [apprehension natin],” Dionisio said.
Another possible factor in the decrease of jaywalkers, he said, is that Dabawenyos might have become more disciplined now because of their continuous information drive across the city on how to properly cross the road.
As of June, they already collected a total of P423,175 from erring pedestrians.
Meanwhile, he also said that CTTMO issued a total of 66,180 citation tickets to drivers for violating traffic rules from January to June this year which is almost a hundred percent increase as compared to the same period in 2018 with 33,293 violations.
He attributed the rise of apprehensions to the strengthened operation of their traffic enforcers and additional deputation of some 300 traffic personnel from the Philippine National Police.