By ERWIN ‘AMBO’ DELILAN
TRAFFIC, killings and illegal drugs (TKD) are becoming “insane” in Bacolod City. They mar Mayor Albee Benitez’s 100-day “honeymoon” period as the newly-elected top honcho of the “City of Smiles”.
The mayor, in his inaugural speech on July 1, vowed to clean the city’s image – from messy traffic and killings, among other annoyances. But it is as if he’s being played by fate (ginalahugan sang kapalaran).
Does Mayor Albee have the resolve to break the TKD chain?
BOTTLENECK
The traffic bottleneck in Bacolod is almost everywhere.
Some Bacolodnons took to social media to freely express their angst, disappointment and disgust over traffic congestion especially from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. When face-to-face classes in most schools resume on Aug. 22, this could get worse.
Heavy traffic is usually experienced in the city’s 12-kilometer main thoroughfare (Lacson Street to Mandalagan area), Araneta Street fronting Gaisano City Mall, Gatuslao Street fronting Ayala Malls, Bangga Cory, San Juan Street going to Banago area, Burgos Street in front of Lopue’s East, among other choke points.
But worse is at the Capitol Shopping Center, the current host of three ongoing road rehabilitation projects worth P179 million by the Department of Tourism (DOT).
Engr. Jose Roger “Maki” Macasero, project (site) engineer of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) – Bacolod Engineering District, said these road rehabs were started last March and will be finished in December this year. These include BS Aquino Drive to Barangay Villamonte, BS Aquino Drive to Lopez-Jaena Street and BS Aquino Drive to Hilado Street to Burgos Street.
So, for the meantime, Engineer Maki appealed to the public, “Diutay lang anay nga pasensya, pero kon matapos na mangin hayahay na ang tanan.”
On the other hand, Bacolod Traffic Authority Office (BTAO) chief, Police Major Junjie Liba, admitted his office is really undermanned. Right now, he said, they only have 270 traffic men less 80 for special operations.
So, what they’ll be doing now is to clean the main thoroughfares of illegal parking, and design a one-way traffic scheme to minimize the left turn of vehicles anywhere.
Mayor Albee, in his inaugural speech, promised to divert the traffic to some underutilized roads in the city. These would be called “Asenso Lanes” kuno.
So where are these “Asenso Lanes” now?
UNSOLVED KILLINGS
“Bacolod has been terrorized recently by crimes,” the mayor also verbalized during his inaugural address, referring to June, the final month in office of former mayor Bing Leonardia .
Thus, he ordered Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) director, Colonel Thomas Joseph Martir, to intensify anti-crime operations and increase police visibility in hotspot or high-crime areas.
The mayor also publicly announced that he’ll allocate a higher budget for BCPO, but stressed, “I expect results.”
In his more than a month in office, Mayor Albee’s leadership was tested by four unsolved killings. These were the following:
* July 2, 2022 – Geory Adeva murder on 18th Street in Barangay 5
* July 9, 2022 – Joevanie Gonzales murder in Purok Bulak, Barangay Mandalagan
* July 17, 2022 – Eduardo Bot murder in Barangay Villamonte
* Aug. 4, 2022 – Reynaldo Apuhin murder on Alice Street, Purok Sampaguita, Barangay Singcang-Airport
Asked for updates, BCPO spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Sherlock Gabana disclosed no progress yet as to their investigation.
Again, in his inaugural speech, Mayor Albee pledged, “We’ll invest in installing state-of-the-art CCTV (closed circuit television) cameras with solar lamp posts on the streets to help police resolve crimes as soon as possible.”
These tools, he added, will also ensure the safety of Bacolod citizens.
In the Apuhin murder, the victim, an assistant secretary of Barangay Singcang-Airport, was seen in the CCTV footage chasing two males prior being found dead. But the CCTV camera failed to capture the faces of the two males. Thus, police are still facing a black wall on who killed Apuhin, and the motive behind his murder.
‘SHABULIZED’
Just recently, the anti-drugs unit of the BCPO reported a total of P8.517-million shabu haul out of 45 police operations with 52 personalities netted from July 1 to date.
In June, the BCPO recorded a total P10.874-million drug haul out of 35 anti-drug ops with 50 individuals arrested. Look at the figures – they’re almost the same. No improvement. Bacolod, therefore, retains its infamous tag as a “shabulized” city in Western Visayas.
Bacolodnons remain hopeful on the promised CHANGE. But they are wary about the latest happenings. Traffic is “suffocating”. The murder of Apuhin, being a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, also rang a bell among the “rainbow fanatics”. Shabu, on the other hand, remains a “hot commodity” in the city.
Change?/PN
