Police support proposal to hike dispatching fine

Policemen have supported the proposal raising the penalty against those who are caught dispatching passengers in the city streets, saying that the move will deter dispatchers from doing the illegal activity.

Sr. Inspectors Alexis Relado and George Ylanan of the Cebu City Police Office told reporters that dispatchers in the city may have treated the existing P200 penalty as a "joke" and do not take it seriously.

They said many of those arrested dispatchers would just go back to their activities in the streets the next day, and that some of them would sometimes even get discounted amount of their penalty from the court.

Ylanan said with the raise in penalty, dispatchers would have second thoughts "extorting" public utility jeepney drivers again.

Many drivers have been "silently" complaining about this "extortion" activity but could not file formal complaints against those dispatchers for fear of their safety.

"Mas maayo nuon na nga dak-an ang multa kay magduha-duha na na sila og balik. Kay magsige-sige man gud na sila og balik-balik bisan kapila nga madakpi, gamay ra lagi ng multa," Ylanan said.

Ylanan added that it is the traffic enforcers' job to arrest these "extortionists" because it is not the policemen's primary job to act on dispatching since they are preoccupied with other more serious crimes.

But Ylanan admitted that once they see any dispatching activity, they would still arrest the dispatchers.

City Councilor Raul Alcoseba had earlier proposed to the City Council the increase in the existing penalty for dispatching from P200 and 15 days imprisonment to P5,000 and six months in prison. - Edwin Ian Melecio