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IF YOU were driving through Banilad in Cebu City yesterday and experienced heavier-than-usual traffic, it was because some traffic enforcers did not show up for work as a sign of protest.
Overworked and underpaid, 39 traffic enforcers of the City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) office of the city government claim that they have not been paid fully for the overtime services they rendered last March, a month into the construction of a flyover along Governor M. Cuenco Avenue at its intersection with A.S. Fortuna Street.
Traffic enforcer Jose Beraque said he and other Citom personnel were only paid the equivalent of three days? worth of overtime when they actually rendered five, prompting some of the 39 not to show up for work yesterday.
?Luspad naman gani among kawo sige mi og buwad sa init (Our caps have even lost their color because we?re always exposed to the heat),? Beraque said.
Lydia Abar, a Citom payroll officer who prepares the pay of the Banilad traffic enforcers, said budget constraints are preventing Citom from paying the enforcers in full.
She said the overtime pay of the enforcers exceeded the office?s budget for March. She assured, however, that the enforcers? missing pay would get to them soon.
She said that in March, 83 enforcers rendered overtime to help control the traffic caused by the flyover?s construction.
The number was reduced to 48 this month because of the decreased traffic volume as some motorists have learned to take alternate routes.
She said this reduced number would allow Citom to pay the backlogged salaries of those who rendered overtime last month.
