Baybay mayor shows political will on traffic, anti-illegal vendors

BAYBAY CITY – A new office created by the LGU here to respond to the problems that are expected to grow with a growing city is effectively curbing violators, and setting the pace of what will be a peaceful, well-maintained Baybay City in the near future.
It also shows the political will of Mayor Mike Cari, a rarity among politicians, who is on his first term but determined to leave an imprint of his short three years in office. The mayor is leaving the office on June 30, to give the seat to his mother Cong. Carmen L. Cari, who is running unopposed for her “comeback” as mayor of Baybay.
The Bus Terminal and Traffic Management Office, headed by Ivor Andrew F. Mojado, said that starting January 11 up to January 26, 2010 alone (a span of 12 days sans Saturdays and Sundays), their office have already apprehended 188 violators of their local traffic and market ordinances.
Of the number, four were “illegal vendors” who were fined for road encroachment and the rest were traffic violators who were found to have expired registrations, expired licenses, vans who violated their “routes” and a variety of minor transgressions.
Mojado, who was interviewed in their makeshift office at the balcony of the municipal hall, said that they are putting some muscle into their ordinances so that people in the city would get used to the rules and regulations set forth in it. He observed that people basically were law-abiding and would follow the law to the hilt, as long as they see serious implementation.
He added that it also helps that they get minimal intervention from the politicians. He said that while some violators haggle on their violations, or fines, very seldom do they look for “padrinos” as this is not tolerated.
Most often, he said, if the apprehended individual is indigent or have no money to pay the fines like potpot drivers, politicians who are approached for “help” pay the fine. They, then, gain the moral ground to admonish the erring individual not to do it again because they will not pay for it the next time.
Penalties, Mojado said, range from P100 for motorcycles, P500 for vans and P700 for buses.
Before the “strict implementation”, Mojado added, they already did a “dry run” to get motorists get used to the rules and regulations. Traffic signs were put up, including the required information billboards. To facilitate the issuances of special permits, they have a representative who has a table at the terminal whose only work is to issue the permits. “Special permits” are granted to vans and buses, including tricycles, that go out of their designated routes for important reasons.
They also implemented the “color coding” scheme for tricycles first, before implementing the local traffic ordinance. In Baybay, the tricycles are “color coded” yellow, white, red and blue.
The yellow tricycles are the only ones allowed to ply around the city. The others are destined outside the city proper with designated routes, and have their own terminals. The other color coded tricycles can only enter the poblacion streets if they have students to deliver, but they must take the nearest street going in or out. Otherwise, Mojado said, they will be fined if apprehended on a street already far from their designated routes.
Baybay City, he said, has 360 tricycles and around 1,250 “potpots”.  By Lalaine M. Jimenea

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