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BY MAE SINGUAY
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Wednesday, January 4, 2017
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BACOLOD City – Can traffic aides solve traffic problems here alone?
To boost its 289 existing traffic enforcers, the Bacolod Traffic Authority Office (BTAO) seeks to employ 150 more.
The city government has taken in 100. They are currently undergoing a six-day Basic Enforcement Training at the Bacolod City Police Office, said Superintendent Luisito Acebuche, officer-in-charge of the BTAO.
According to Acebuche, the city government believes deploying more traffic enforcers will solve traffic problems.
Five hundred BTAO enforcers are needed to cover the entire city, Acebuche said, citing advice from Mayor Evelio Leonardia.
Well-trained enforcers are seen to manage vehicular traffic better and properly deal with sectors contributing to street congestion.
The training, which started yesterday, is required of the new BTAO recruits, Acebuche said.
Part of their course touches on human behavior — specifically when handling violators, said the BTAO head.
In some cases, tension would arise between traffic enforcers and rule violators who insist innocence. The situation could lead to violence albeit rarely.
But traffic enforcers here deal with not only regular motorists and pedestrians but also sidewalk vendors, mendicants and vagrants.
In December 2016, the city government implemented rerouting among public utility jeepneys aimed at easing traffic during the holidays.
When the traffic scheme attracted criticism on social media, city hall stopped it and dismissed it as just an “experiment.”
Mayor Evelio Leonardia apologized for the inconvenience it caused the public but stood by the plan, saying “it will take time for the public to adjust to it.”
“This is not the right time to come up with the experiment,” Leonardia had said.
He also tried to allay public rage by asking the locals to “understand” that vehicular traffic is “normally always problematic” during Christmas season./PN
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