CEBU, Philippines – There is now a move proposing that vehicles impounded by the City Traffic Operations Management for whatever reasons will be disposed of through auction if owners fail to claim them after three months from the date of apprehension.
Councilor Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba, chairman of the Committee on Traffic Management of the Cebu City Council, said he wants to amend a provision of the existing Cebu City Traffic Ordinance to allow that “all unclaimed motor vehicles which are taken into custody or impounded at the Cebu City impounding area for a period of three months shall be deemed forfeited in favor of the government and shall be disposed of at public auction.”
But Alcoseba explained that before the concerned vehicles are considered forfeited in favor of the government, the city through the CITOM will properly inform the vehicle owners of the auction through publication in the newspapers.
At present, there are hundreds of unclaimed motor vehicles from motorcycles to trucks still at the CITOM’s impounding area, many of them already in bad condition.
The Cebu City Council earlier asked CITOM to conduct an inventory of all vehicles and other properties at the city’s impounding area at the North Reclamation Area and recommend how to dispose of them.
Councilor Richard Osmeña who was tasked to investigate the alleged pilferage at the impounding area confirmed that some of the vehicles are missing parts.
Some councilors wonder how thieves managed to enter the compound undetected when in fact the impounding area is guarded 24 hours by two shifts of members of the Barangay Intelligence Network of the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Branch.
The Commission on Audit had earlier reminded the city officials of the policy that unclaimed impounded vehicles with no pending cases in courts can already be disposed through auction that could earn revenues for the city. – Rene U. Borromeo/BRP (THE FREEMAN)