Act Roman in Cagayan de Oro

Egay Uy .

THE road clearing operations being undertaken by the city government is both a more aggressive continuation of what was started during the first term of Mayor Oscar S. Moreno in 2013 under the Task Force Hapsay Dalan whose main mandate was to clear the streets of obstructions, and an implementation of DILG Memorandum Circular No. 2019-121 requiring local governments to clear public thoroughfares and sidewalks of obstructions.

A few have been caught flatfooted by the recent relentless clearing operations conducted by a composite team even as many have voluntarily removed their structures that encroached public property after receiving notices. While there is still no perfect clearing of roads and sidewalks, there is a remarkable improvement in areas where the clearing team has operated in. “Luag man diay ang dalan” if we will.

Of course, there were those who pose threats of suing the clearing team for demolishing structures even as those structures have clearly encroached upon public space. And there was even one building owner whose structure ate up the entire sidewalk who howled “political harassment” and threatened to sue the implementors. I will not further comment on that because I have the feeling nobody will believe that person anyway.

The clearing team will also have to take into account what may be considered as a hardheaded nature of people living in the city. This is evident in the way road users behave when it comes to compliance, or non-compliance, with traffic rules and regulations.

Those who comply with rules even when nobody is watching is a unique breed we have to propagate because there are those who simply do not care when it comes to compliance with rules in our city. I say this because of several admissions already made by many that when in Rome, they act like Romans, not Kagay-anons!

On Monday, the clearing team is scheduled to sit down and assess the gains of the operations, and probably plot out further action because as we have seen, the operations did not stop at the deadline set in the DILG memorandum which was last month. I expect that vis-à-vis the memorandum, the operations conducted by the composite clearing team will earn a passing mark.

Other than road clearing, many corrective measures will still have to be implemented in the city despite the current relentless efforts of most city government departments. All it would take is the full cooperation of the implementing offices, both local and national, and the constituents themselves, us. It is good to note that Mayor Moreno empowers his alter egos into performing what he calls, “the best way possible.”

We cannot leave everything to the local government. The citizens’ participation will matter much in making our city an ideal place to live in.

Act Roman even in Cagayan de Oro City. It’s easy to do.

(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.)