City Hall ‘re-trains’ traffic enforcers

By John Noel E. Herrera

A total of 313 traffic enforcers in the city underwent a day-long retraining conducted by the Iloilo City Government on Friday, Oct 7, 2022 at the University of the Philippines Visayas Iloilo City campus.

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Trenas said that the training will further improve the skills of the traffic aides as they will be retrained “in all aspects so that they can better assist the motorists.”

“Ini ang pamaagi para ma-professionalize naton ang aton mga traffic aide sa syudad para ma-improve naton ang ihibalo, ang skills, kag ang attitude gid sang aton tagsa ka mga traffic enforcer,” Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO) head Jeck Conlu also said in an interview.

Conlu added that there were some traffic aides who were not able to attend the mandatory training due to medical reasons as they tested positive for COVID-19.

When asked about who would handle the traffic situations while all the traffic aides were in training the whole day, Conlu said that the traffic lights were fully functional to ease the traffic in the meantime.

Several police personnel were also seen assisting the traffic situation on some of the major roads of the city yesterday.

The one-day training was also in line with the Traffic Academy program of the city government which includes a 15-day short course program. 10 days for classroom or theoretical learning and five days for practical learning application and on-the-ground training.

The traffic academy will also include courses on basic traffic signaling systems to improve the skills of traffic personnel in managing road safety and proper ways to handle arguments on the streets.

“They should know how to properly perform their duties, their decision-making, as well as the basic legal rights they should implement on the streets. We will also correct their wrongdoings while working, and the program will continue as we will have a refresher course every year,” Conlu added.

The mandatory re-training also came after the resumption of confiscation of traffic violators’ driver’s licenses amid the Department of the Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) Sep 14 memorandum stating that only the Land Transportation Office (LTO) personnel or authorized deputized persons may confiscate licenses.

Treñas earlier asserted the superiority of Iloilo City Ordinance No. 338, which was passed in 1992, citing Republic Act No. 7160 (Local Government Code of 1991, as amended) as his basis for allowing the traffic enforcers to confiscate traffic violators’ driver’s licenses again.