Osmeña lauded for strong arm during Sinulog

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña. CDN FILE PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA

CEBU CITY — Netizens have expressed support for the policy of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña to prohibit drinking and parties along the Sinulog Grand Parade route.

The post of the mayor on the commotion at the Greenery in Barangay Kasambangan here generated 2,080 shares and 1,877 likes as of 11:13 a.m., nine hours after he uploaded it at 2 a.m.

“Bravo Mayor.. (The) celebration of the feast of the Holy Child must be solemn and at peace. Peru tungod sa mga jejemon nga ga kiat ra ang gi una. Tagam! wa man lage mi ma ngunn ani sa misa novenario nga mas ga huot man. Haters gonna hate,” said Jhay Ar Salazar.

“Not a way to celebrate the pista senyor. CEBU SHOULD NEVER BE THE NEXT METRO MANILA. gadasok na sad ning mga langyaw. okay raman ta kai mga bisita, pero kasagaran kiat ug gara,” said Jan Michael Ecarma.

At 2 a.m. on Sunday, Osmeña posted on FB that “(the) crowd at the Sinulog dance party dubbed as “Paintensity” in Barangay Mabolo was getting violent.

Policemen from the Special Weapons and Tactics team and the Mabolo police station responded to the alarm. The party was stopped and the crowd was dispersed.

“If the organizers can’t control their own party, there will be no party,” said Osmeña on his FB page.

On Saturday night, Osmeña posted on FB that he also visited One Mango Avenue to have the parking area reopened “after it was illegally closed by its owners.”

“This is a major reason why traffic is bad, not just during the Sinulog but on regular days as well. A parking lot exists to prevent cars from parking on the street, not to act as extra table space for restaurants,” Osmeña posted.

Osmeña said he would also patrol “hotspots” tonight “to make sure that this doesn’t happen. For the areas that are inaccessible to cars during the grand parade, closed parking lots will be tolerated until 5PM. After that, everything must be open. Any violations will result in the suspension of business permits.”

He reminded event organizers that the rules were clear when the permits were granted to them.

The Jan. 12 permit granted to “Painstensity 2017” required organizers to do the following:

*Peace and order should be maintained;

*Explosive and fireworks of any pyrotechnic display and the discharge of the firearms are strictly prohibited;

*Traffic and pedestrian should not be obstructed;

*No acts prohibited by law or city ordinance should be committed under the protection of the PERMIT;

*The use of loud speakers or similar contrivance should be regulated so as not to constitute nuisance;

*Observe strictly condition no. 5 subject to the provisions of the Anti-Noise Ordinance No. 1705 approved last December 8, 1997 as amended subject to immediate revocation of the permit if the second level of the sound system beyond 50 decibels. CBB/rga