CEBU CITY -- Mayor Tomas Osmeña is planning to eject the Land Transportation Office 7 (Central Visayas) out of the Cebu City-owned lot on Natalio Bacalso Ave. here.
The mayor announced this on Friday amid his widening rift with LTO-7 Director Victor Caindec, who filed a complaint against Osmeña for grave abuse of authority before the Office of the President last Monday.
Caindec’s complaint was anchored on Executive Order (EO) No. 34 issued by the mayor last February, authorizing the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) to impound vehicles caught counter-flowing on the city’s major thoroughfares.
In his complaint, Caindec said only the LTO has the authority to impound vehicles as provided for under Republic Act (RA) No. 4136, or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code.
Osmeña, however, said he will continue to implement EO 34 despite the complaint and, in retaliation, threatened to evict the LTO-7 from the city-owned lot, which the agency has been occupying for years.
As of this writing, Caindec could not be reached for comment.
The rift between the mayor and LTO-7 chief began early last month when Osmeña criticized the agency for penalizing motorists using unregistered vehicles because “the LTO has not processed their registration.”
In response, Caindec said it’s better for the mayor to attend to the city’s problems first before intervening with the LTO’s business.
Their dispute escalated when Osmeña and Caindec continued their “word war” on social media, which led to the mayor’s pulling out of traffic enforcers at the South National Highway, where construction of the tunnel project is ongoing, causing heavy traffic congestion in the area for a day. (PNA)
