ILOILO City – A proposal to merge Iloilo City’ s Traffic and Transportation Management Office (TTMO) and Public Order and Safety Management Office (POSMO) has hit strong opposition from the very councilor who authored the 2024 ordinance separating the two offices, arguing that any move to reunite them must first be backed by substantial evidence proving the split failed to improve government efficiency.
Councilor Rex Marcus Sarabia said he inhibited himself from the deliberations on the proposed merger because he sponsored the ordinance that created separate TTMO and POSMO offices in July 2024 from the then Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO).
“I would like to express my inhibition and abstention from these proceedings. I inhibited myself from the hearing on this proposal. I do not support the merger at this time because I authored the division,” Sarabia said.
He maintained that the separation was designed to enable each office to concentrate on its specific mandate as Iloilo City continued to expand.
“The reasoning behind it was that public safety has become a huge responsibility, and traffic management is also a major concern. One department alone can no longer handle both functions. Iloilo is already a highly urbanized city, and traffic alone is already a significant issue. If you leave all these responsibilities to just one department head, the mandate becomes too heavy,” he said.
Sarabia said claims that merging the offices would save money and improve efficiency were the same arguments raised before the offices were divided.
“If you’re using the same argument that you’re trying to save money and become more efficient, that was also the same argument when we divided POSMO and TTMO,” he said.
He added that there were already indications the separation improved operations, although he could not immediately provide supporting data.
Sarabia admitted he never expected a proposal to reunite the offices less than two years after they were split.
“I also haven’t fully studied the proposal because, at this point, a proposal is just a proposal. If it has no basis and no tangible or substantial data supporting it, then it remains only a proposal. It is neither permanent nor final. We’ll see what the outcome of the committee’s study will be,” he said.
He stressed that only compelling evidence would change his position.
“It’s like scaling a mountain trying to convince me to merge them again,” Sarabia said.
The proposed merger is under review by an ad hoc committee of the Sangguniang Panlungsod chaired by Councilor Sedfrey Cabaluna, with Councilor Jose Maria “Nene” Dela Llana as vice chairperson and Councilor Alan Zaldivar as member.
The committee has been tasked with examining the operational, administrative and personnel implications of the proposal before submitting its recommendations to the City Council./PN
