By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent
LAWYER Jose Edgardo Uy will remain as the city’s traffic czar.
Mayor Oscar Moreno announced this over the weekend even as he rejected calls made by Councilor Zaldy Ocon for city hall to replace Uy supposedly because he (Ocon) was unhappy with the way the Roads and Traffic Administration (RTA) was being managed.
“He (Uy) is a very honest man. Anogon ang iyang honesty, ug ang iyang determination,” Moreno said.
Moreno said he discussed the matter with Ocon after the councilor went public with his call for Uy’s ouster from the Task Force Hapsay Dalan and as RTA overseer. He said he told Ocon why he would not let go of the lawyer.
“Akong gi-ingnan si Councilor Zaldy nga dili baya sayon mangita og traffic czar,” said Moreno.
But Moreno said he understands the position of Ocon, and considers his call as an exercise of free expression.
“That is the beauty of democracy. In the democracy. everybody is free to express his opinion,” he said.
He said he also understands Ocon’s disappointment over the worsening traffic problem in the city.
But he said he asked Ocon to understand that Uy’s job as RTA overseer and Task Force Hapsay Dalan chairman is a difficult task.
Efforts are being made, he said, to ease the vehicular traffic situation in the city, and there have been significant gains in the RTA since Uy was named RTA overseer in 2013.
Moreno revealed that when he assumed as the city’s mayor in 2013, Uy immediately acted against corruption in the RTA.
“Paglingkod nako sa pagka-mayor niadtong 2013, mismo ang akong ig-agaw, gitaga-an ako sa resibo nga gi-isyu sa RTA nga dili mao ang gibayad. Sindikato gyud,” he said.
He said Uy acted on the corruption problem. “Kalooy sa Dios, kon na-a pa man ugaling, gamay nalang gyud kaayo.”
Ocon’s call for Uy’s ouster came after the councilor allegedly slapped a traffic aide inside the session hall of the city council, a day after he was issued an RTA ticket for illegal parking near Cogon market. Uy said he and RTA chief Nonito Oclarit witnessed the slapping.
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