CAGAYAN de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno has designated a new police traffic czar to lead the Roads and Traffic Administration (RTA).
Moreno appointed retired Police Colonel Rizalino Borlagdatan as the acting department head of the RTA as well as head of the Civil Security Office effective Thursday, January 2, 2020.
Borlagdatan recently retired as logistics officer of the Police Regional Office (PRO) in Northern Mindanao. He graduated at the Philippine National Police Academy in 1991.
Moreno said Borlagdatan was introduced to him by Cagayan de Oro City Police Chief Colonel Henry Dampal which he requested for a “referral.”
“Number 1, ang traffic usa kana sa problema pero dili nato mabasol ang RTA (traffic is of the problems but we cannot blame the RTA). It’s just that the successes of Cagayan de Oro have made traffic administration more difficult kay (because) more and more people will come, converge to Cagayan de Oro. We’ll just have to level up, measure up,” Moreno said in a radio program.
(Traffic is of the problems, but we cannot blame the RTA. It’s just that the successes of Cagayan de Oro have made traffic administration more difficult because more and more people will come, converge to Cagayan de Oro. We’ll just have to level up, measure up.)
The mayor pointed out the RTA requires consistent, effective and efficient enforcement which he hopes to achieve by hiring a top official of the traffic office.
“Naa man tay executives, officials sa RTA. But I think that the approach that I have taken is to recruit a new head in the hope, kay akong agenda is ma-strengthen ang grupo so that by doing so, the RTA will become more effective, efficient, and its contribution will be optimized to the credit of RTA,” Moreno said.
(We have executives and officials in the RTA. But I think that the approach that I have taken is to recruit a new head because my agenda is to strengthen the group so that by doing so, the RTA will become more effective, efficient, and its contribution will be optimized to the credit of the RTA.)
“I think kung gikan sa police maayo iyang relasyon with the Cocpo (Cagayan de Oro City Police Office) head, Cocpo officials, and the police organization in general. Good working relationship with the PNP, mao na akong gusto. Dili ko gusto that the RTA has a separate world of its own,” Moreno said.
(I think that if the official is from the police, his relationship with the Cocpo head, Cocpo officials and the police organization in general would be good. That’s what I want – a good working relationship with the police. I don’t want the RTA to have a separate world of its own.)
Moreno asked the public and the RTA to support Borlagdatan, whose first task this year is to ensure a smooth and safe traffic flow in one of the biggest events in the city -- the annual Traslacion of the Black Nazarene.