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MANDAUE CITY, Philippines – Mayor Jonas Cortes said Monday he was considering making drag racing a legal and regular activity in Mandaue City so that safety measures can be imposed.
Cortes said he was considering including the activity in the upcoming fiesta.
“It's a sport and these people are enthusiasts...maybe we can include this in the upcoming fiesta where we can designate a place for them to race where it is safe from the public,” Cortes said.
Cortes, however, said he would not tolerate the illegal drag racing activity at the reclamation area.
He also denied allegations of Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna that he had a relative involved in the illegal drag racing at the reclamation.
He challenged Fortuna to name his relative or anyone in his family involved in the illegal activity.
Cortes said he was the one who ordered the operation at the reclamation area after his office received several reports of the drag racing activities there.
“I was the one who asked for the police operations last Friday and Saturday and now ako na hinuon ang pasanginlan?” Cortes asked.
Fortuna suggested earlier that local police and the city's traffic agency, Traffic Enforcement and Management (TEAM), should coordinate with the Land Transportation Office and the Traffic Management Group to stop this activity.
He said that police can also apprehend the drag racers and charge them with reckless driving.
"They could be jailed for that," he said.
Rey Puno, TEAM operations chief, said Monday the agency also set up checkpoints last weekend as a deterrent to the illegal drag racing in the area.
Puno said TEAM members seized at least 17 motorcycles after their drivers failed to present proper documents or did not have licenses.
The enforcers and policemen were at Ouano Avenue starting 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. foiling any illegal drag races. There were also no arrests.
Puno said drag racing had been TEAM's problem for a while now.
Puno explained that it is really very difficult to catch them on the spot because these people will just gather in the gasoline station and then later on, the race has started.
Puno said they could not even pinpoint who initiated the activity because there were several groups.
Before, he said, the race was done at the UN Avenue at the new bridge but it transferred to the reclamation area.
Last weekend, TEAM and police watched a group of about 100 people, who gathered with their fancy cars and motorcycles near the gasoline station in Ouano Avenue.
All the law enforcers could do was issue tickets for traffic violations such as non-wearing of crash helmets and no registrations of motorcycles.
The police stayed from 10 p.m. till 4 a.m.
"But it seems the groups there were just waiting for the police to move out. We're the ones they are watching," said Police Officer 1 Romulo Villarojo of Barangay (village) Subangdaku Police Station 2. /Reporter Dale G. Israel and Correspondent Jhunnex Napallacan
