Comply and be spared

Egay Uy .

SOME people from the franchising office say there is a shortage of taxi units plying to and from Cagayan de Oro and within city limits.  This was echoed by an organization of taxi operators whose leader is known to be close to those in the franchising office.  They say there are only about two thousand units in the city.

Without even counting, we will observe a deluge of taxi units in almost all sites where people converge, e.g., Bulua terminal, the Agora, the malls along Recto avenue and in uptown Cagayan de Oro. Check Divisoria and taxi units are a dime a dozen.

If indeed only about two thousand units are registered in the franchising office, then most probably the city is also deluged by unregistered or “colorum” taxi units.

This is also true in the case of motorela units.  In the licensing office of city hall, there only 2,444 registered units that are supposed to ply city streets. But reality again tells us that there are more units on the streets than in the registry books of the city.

If you happen to pass by the diversion road from upper Macasandig towards the Alegria subdivision you will notice, unless the owner has already removed them, that there two identical motorela units parked at the roadside.  Both are of the same color and body number.  This could only mean one thing – one of the units is unregistered or colorum.

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People tend to beat around the law when opportunity presents itself.  Just look around.  Motorists stop in the middle of intersections while waiting for their turn to cross blocking the crossing traffic.  How crazy can these motorists be?

I recall sometime last year when I was still with the traffic office, that I often commented in live interviews that “Sayang ang mga SUV ug mahalon nga mga sakyanan kay ang ga drive wala buot.”

I’m sure you know who usually gets the blame.

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Very soon, and in order to send a strong message that we mean business, the integrated regulatory task force of the city government of which I serve as focal person, will recommend to City Mayor Oscar S. Moreno the closure of several business establishments that were found to have repeatedly violated regulations.

To recall, the Regulatory and Complaint Board, the Joint Inspection Team, and the City Price Coordinating Council have conducted separate inspections of lodging houses, watering holes, retail outlets, and internet or pisonet shops and found several violations committed by business operators.  The results of these inspections almost always found their way to Facebook.

It’s not yet late. Comply with regulations and be spared of the hassles and trouble of having your businesses closed either temporarily or permanently.

(Egay Uy is a lawyer. He chairs the City’s Regulatory and Complaint Board, co-chairs with the city mayor the City Price Coordinating Council, and chairs the city’s Joint Inspection Team.  He retired as a vice president of Cepalco.)