CITOM notes decrease in traffic fees collection

The collection of traffic violations fees has decreased last September because of privileges granted to traffic violators and the preference of some to attend the community service program seminar than pay the fines.

This, according to the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management, which noted the decrease compared to the collection for the month of August this year.

Sofia C. Bacolod of the Traffic Violations Bureau said the decrease in the collection is attributed to the privileges granted by mayor Tomas Osmeña to traffic violators. She also said that another reason for the decrease in collection could be the fact that most of the violators of the Anti-Jaywalking Ordinance prefer to go through the community service program seminar than pay the P50 fine.

For the month of September, TVB collected P3,973,019.60 which is lower by P366,442.90 than the August collection of P4,339,462.50.

Osmeña, who sits as CITOM chairman, has the discretion to give traffic violators the chance to settle their liabilities upon application for compromise payment of their fees on the ground of financial incapacity.

Arnel Tancinco, CITOM executive officer said that the number of holidays or working days of the month also affected the collection of fees. He said streets are busier during holidays since more people would go out to enjoy the break.

The bulk of the collection for September came from parking fees which amounted to P2,546,445. For the month of August, CITOM was able to collect P2,683,805. -Mitchelle P. Calipayan