Cebu City Transport Body Gets Most Outstanding Department Award

The Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) was named as the outstanding department of the Cebu City Government as part of the activities of the 79th Charter Day of Cebu City on February 24.

Lawyer Rafael Christopher Yap, CCTO chief, said the recognition is dedicated to all of their personnel who did not hesitate to give their selfless service to the public.

Yap was also a recipient of the mayor’s special award.

He said he is thankful for the award, but he said the recognition also serves as a challenge for them to continue doing their best for public service.

He said many activities in Cebu City in 2015 and the first quarter of 2016 have been a tough period for the CCTO.

Yap said international events such as the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings and the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC), among others, became a huge challenge for CCTO in traffic management.

Other yearly activities, such as the Sinulog 2015 and Mega Sinulog 2016, became an added load as well to the tasks of the traffic office.

The CCTO also has to deal with the everyday traffic as more big establishments, such as the SM Seaside City Cebu and Robinsons Galleria Cebu, which contributed to traffic, opened late last year.

Yap said their early preparations for the major events paid off.

He also gave credits to lawyer Rey Gealon, who is the current executive director of CCTO and Operations Chief Jonathan Tumulak, who co-managed the office.

The PHP10.6-billion Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, the continuing traffic problem in Banilad-Talamban area and dealing with the many new developments in the city have been the challenges they need to hurdle now, Yap said.

Traffic education remains to be a priority of the office, he said. (PNA) LAP/EB/EDS