Has Tagbilaran become another Metro Manila? If traffic jam is made the basis, it would seem that indeed Tagbilaran has come of age. Kudos, (or is it curse?) to the officials of city hall for allowing traffic to deteriorate to such proportion for a small city of 200,000 population. Traffic jams that last as long as 30 minutes to almost one hour have become a regular thing on J.A. Clarin St. from the PNP Provincial Office to the J.A. Clarin-ICM intersection particularly at five o'clock in the afternoon when students and workers go home from school and the workplace.

About 11:00 a.m. yesterday was one other experience I had that prompted me to send an S.O.S. message to City Administrator Edi Borja to send traffic enforcers to untangle the messy traffic jam before violence erupted.

The worsening traffic situation in Tagbilaran is a confluence of many reasons that City Hall has not prepared for. No, it is not the geometric increase in the number of vehicles plying the city streets. It is a case of undisciplined drivers, simultaneous improvement and repair of city roads by very slow contractors, inefficient and ineffective new traffic enforcers, and the holding of classes by all college students of the Holy NameUniversity (HNU) in the Janssen Heights campus.

Drivers have become kings of the roads, they no longer mind road courtesy. They would try to occupy with their vehicle every inch of the road that can hold their vehicle just so they could go ahead of the others. Tricycles ply even on the national highways without being accosted by highway patrol officers. They make U-turns anywhere and anytime they want to.

What makes the traffic situation worse is the simultaneous repair and improvement of so many road sections by practically only one contractor who does not seem to mind urgent timelines. Road repairs and concreting have been started but not completed leaving piles of limestone and creating more potholes on the road. Road by-passes have been designated but these were the same roads that remained unattended for many many years despite availability of funds for maintenance. For more than three years road maintenance was neglected by the City Engineer's Office. With so many typhoons that hit Bohol during those years, it is not a surprise that city roads have become mud pools. Yet Engr. Pianisita Castolo and Mayor Baba Yap keep on asking the people to have more patience. They have been patient for years and the supply is getting very low and short.

People see traffic enforcers in road intersections but traffic remains disorderly. It is not enough to put enforcers in the midst of traffic jams. They must know what they are doing. In the case of Tagbilaran, traffic enforcers have a lot of training to attend before they can keep the drivers in line. I have seen as many as five traffic enforcers at the J. Clarin-ICM intersection during peak hours without good result.

And then because of the damage sustained by the buildings of HNU at its main campus at Lesage St., all classes have been transferred to the Janssen Heights Campus. This has congested J.A. Clarin during class days. There is a by-pass road in Dampas and on to the Cooperative Hospital and ICM to San Isidro District but this too has become a one lane passage because of the road concreting work.

Mayor Baba Yap and his administration must perform miracles before the patience of Tagbilaranons is exhausted. It won't be good for his administration to already expose his Achilles heels this early. The wolves are only waiting along the side for him to commit his political errors.