Drivers see monster in Apec road rerouting

BRAND-NEW police motorcycles for use during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meetings are parked at what remains of the Cebu International Convention Center. JUNJIE MENDOZA/CEBU DAILY NEWS

CEBU CITY—Driver Mario Cortes, 34, used to bring home P500 to his family of three after 10 hours of driving his passenger utility jeepney (PUJ).

The income he brings home went down by at least 40 percent after the Cebu City Traffic Office (CCTO) barred drivers from plying four roads that lead to the three venues of the ongoing meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) when the delegates started to arrive.

“It is so difficult because my income has gone down since the route was changed,” Cortes told the Inquirer.

His PUJ used to pass by Radisson Blu Hotel and Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.

Since Aug. 20, all PUJs were no longer allowed to pass by these hotels and Marco Polo Plaza where the Apec meetings in the city are being held.

Joy Tumulak, CCTO operations head, said the rerouting scheme would be lifted on Sept. 7 when the Apec meetings would be held in Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa in Lapu-Lapu City.

“We have to control vehicles using Pope John Paul II Street until Salinas Drive to ensure the safety of our visitors and so that the travel from one hotel venue to another will not be delayed,” Tumulak said.

Suffering

Greg Perez, head of the transport group Piston-Cebu, said at least 200 of the 500 members of the group and thousands of commuters have been made to suffer by Apec preparations being done by the local organizing committee and the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.

Commuters walked the almost kilometer stretch of Pope John Paul II Avenue on Sept. 20, caught unaware by the implementation of the PUJ rerouting scheme.

The rerouting scheme displaced PUJs plying Veteran’s Drive, Salinas Drive, Pope John Paul II Avenue and S. Osmeña Road beside Radisson Blu Hotel.

“The Apec has not done good for the transportation sector. It even worsened the plight of drivers,” Perez said.

For almost a week now, jeepneys from the southern part of the city have been barred from entering the PUJ terminal in SM City Cebu at the North Reclamation Area since it is located close to Radisson Blu.

Since the SM mall terminal was closed starting on Aug. 20, PUJs plying 12 routes in Cebu City started to use a portion of A. Soriano Street located about two blocks away from Radisson Blu Hotel as their temporary terminal.

PUJs with route number 04lL, which ply Pope John Paul II Avenue, were also rerouted to General Maxilom Avenue before going to its destination near SM Mall.

Less income

Because of the route changes, Perez said, heavy traffic has been building up in roads parallel to the Apec route, reducing the turnaround time of PUJs by almost half.

“The income of drivers also dropped,” Perez added.

After paying unit rent of P800 to P1,000 to their operators, drivers are left with a net income of P300 per day—barely enough to buy a kilogram of rice and a kilogram of pork.

Even truckers have started to complain about the truck ban being enforced along the Apec route.

Asteria Caberte, director of the Department of Trade and Industry in Central Visayas, admitted receiving complaints from truckers who have been having difficulty in bringing their goods to the port area for shipment.

Mandaue Mayor Jonas Cortes issued Executive Order No. 16 on Aug. 20, ordering a temporary ban on trucks, vans and trailers along Plaridel Street, A. Soriano Avenue and Ouano Avenue at the North Reclamation Area that are part of the Apec route in the city.

The truck ban would be in force from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily until Sept. 10.

“There is a need to decongest the identified ceremonial routes of the Apec delegates so as not to delay their travel time from one venue to another,” said Cortes’ EO.

It added that “the expeditious travel of Apec delegates through the City of Mandaue is a necessary and actual emergency that must be given priority in order not to unduly delay the meetings and conferences of the delegates.”

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama also issued a truck ban along Pope John Paul II Avenue from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Since its implementation, the CCTO already flagged down at least 70 truck drivers violating the ban which carried a fine of P500. Doris C. Bongcac, Inquirer Visayas