Osmeña apprehends cabbies at Fuente for illegal parking

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña personally apprehended yesterday some illegally parked taxicabs and private cars, including the vehicle of the ABS-CBN dyAB news team, along the Fuente Rotunda in front of the Rajah Hotel.

The mayor, together with his son, Miguel, passed by the area around midnight yesterday and upon seeing the situation, he disembarked from his vehicle and started apprehending the vehicles for illegal parking.

“It was by chance niagi ko. Sobra ra man sab. Dili lang triple parking, sobra ra gyod dili na lang sila mopatuo sa traffic laws,” Osmeña said.

Drivers of around 10 taxi units and private vehicles were issued citation tickets.

Even the dyAB news crew which was covering the apprehension was apprehended by traffic enforcers.

“Wa tay mahimo ana unsaon man naapil man gyod. Pero kadali ra man unta to ni-park, igo ra man ko gi-drop sa driver,” said dyAB reporter Dave Tumulak, barangay captain of Basak Pardo.

The mayor, who stayed for a while in front of the hotel, expressed his disappointment over violations to the “no double parking rule.”

“There is a problem in the implementation of our traffic laws here. It seems natural lang sa mga drivers ang mo-violate sa traffic laws dinhi,” Osmeña said.

However, traffic officer SPO2 Breman Budiongan explained that they have been campaigning for drivers to observe the “no double parking” along Fuente Rotunda. He said they even had an operation in the area two hours before the mayor came.

“Dili man lang ang Fuente Rotunda ang atong gi-monitor god, naa pa ma’y Colon area. Kun dunay operation sa Fuente, mag-fiesta sab ang mga PUJ ug taxi sa Colon, and vice versa,” Budiongan said. - Ramil Ayuman/MEEV