Poor planning, coordination resulted in monstrous jam

Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale yesterday said better planning would be needed should the province continue to host the Ironman triathlon.

Magpale, who also chairs the province’s Tourism Committee, said she received reports that many passengers missed their flights because of the horrendous traffic jam that followed the closure of one lane of the Marcelo Fernan Bridge during the duration of the  race.

“We should plan it well next time. A lot of people were left by their flights in the airport due to the traffic in the bridge. It should be better planned,” she told Cebu Daily News.

Lovely Manus, an airline ground staffer at the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) said many arriving passengers were stranded at the airport because of the unavailability of taxi cabs and vehicles to pick them up because of the  traffic jam at the two bridges connecting the cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.

Some  passengers who were caught in traffic were forced to  carry  their luggage and take an estimated 3-kilometer walk from the bridge to the airport.

Frank Brazil, chief at Lapu-Lapu City Traffic Management System, said they were surprised to find part of the Marcelo Fernan bridge near the viaduct  closed to traffic. The resulting dawn jam prompted Brazil to order traffic enforcers to hold the vehicles at M.L. Quezon highway going to Mandaue through Marcelo Fernan bridge until the area was clear of cyclists.  The two bridges were congested from 7am to noon.

Alvin Santillana, executive director of the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC), accused traffic aides and barangay tanods who were supposed to regulate traffic and control the crowd in Talisay City of abandoning their post.

Santillana told Cebu Daily News he saw at least six barangay tanods who instead of controlling the crowd and traffic, were busy watching out for celebrities who participated in the race.

“Instead of manning the traffic  in Talisay city, the barangay tanods whose job is to support the enforcers were just watching the event. They even went to the middle of the closed roads to  cheer on the celebrities who passed by,” he said.

Santillana said there was no barangay tanod to direct traffic in barangay Laray near Gaisano Mall.

Talisay City public information officer Vince Monterde denied that their tanods were remiss in doing their assigned tasks. He said they had difficulty controlling traffic because they were undermanned.

“We really lack the number of people who would be watching the road,” Monterde said.

“In fairness to the tanods, they did their job,” Monterde said.

Cebuano hospitality

Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said the hospitality of Cebuanos has “taken centerstage once again” in the international sports event.

Davide witnessed the race’s start at around 6 in the morning yesterday.

Vice Gov. Magpale in  the same vein, said the race provided a boost to the province’s tourism industry. She said all the hotels in Mactan island were fully-booked days before the event. “Cebu is privileged to be the host of IronMan, a prestigious international sports event. The much-talked about Cebuano hospitality has taken centerstage once again,” the vice governor said via text message. /Peter L. Romanillos, Correspondent with Correspondents Norman V. Mendoza and Christine Emily L. Pantaleon