INQUIRER Global Nation

Now that the Banilad-Talamban Flyover is complete, the Cebu City government is asking the Department of Public Works and Highways in Central Visayas (DPWH-7) to pay the overtime work of city traffic enforcers who managed traffic during its construction.

The City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) told the City Council that the DPWH-7 had yet to pay the seven months’ worth of overtime work of traffic enforcers, amounting to around P600,000.

The City Council passed a resolution yesterday supporting Citom’s claim.

Councilor Sylvan Jakosalem said he hoped the DPWH-7 – the agency in charge of the flyover’s construction – would release the overtime pay before Christmas.

Jakosalem said the flyover was a project of the national government and DPWH-7 was obligated to pay the city’s traffic enforcers who helped make the project possible.

Antonio Hermoso, spokesman of the DPWH-7, said the overtime pay would come from the contractor hired by DPWH-7 to build the flyover.

He said WTG Construction and Development Corp. submitted last week its variation order for the flyover project that outlined changes in the construction and cost.

This would be submitted to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for approval before the contractor is paid.

There was no assurance, however, that the overtime pay for the traffic enforcers would be released before Christmas, since it usually takes the DBM a month to give its approval, Hermoso said.