In addition to towing: CITOM revives tire-clamping

CEBU, Philippines – Traffic authorities in Cebu City have decided to revive the controversial clamping of vehicles that will be caught park in areas not designated for parking.

Cebu City Traffic Operations Management board chairman Sylvan "Jack" Jakosalem said the board reached the decision and he met yesterday with Chief Insp. David Señor, the newly-designated chief of the Cebu City Traffic Group and his assistant chief Michael Angelo Beltran to give them instructions.

"I instructed them, please reactivate clamping for vehicles illegally parked on big roads, on passenger jeepney stops, especially if there are many illegally parked in a row," he said.

The former councilor said he instructed the traffic policemen to "only tow the illegally-parked vehicles if they are parked in smaller roads that cause actual obstruction."

According to Jakosalem clamps which were bought by the city government a few years ago are no longer being used by the traffic authorities.

"Nakalimtan na ang clamping because of towing," he said.

Three private towing companies, the Road Warriors Towing Services, One-Stop Towing Services and A-Plus Towing, are helping CITOM in pulling out illegally parked vehicles from the streets.

These private towing companies are not being paid by the city, but they get 75 percent of the towing fees collected from the violators, while the rest goes to the city coffers.

Jakosalem said a concerned motorist whose vehicle was clamped by the traffic enforcers a few years ago was the one who sent an e-mail to CITOM asking why the clamping stopped.

Among the first vehicles clamped by the traffic enforcers in the 1980s for illegal parking was owned by former assemblyman Valentino Legaspi.

The white Toyota Corrola is still at the city's impounding area at the North Reclamation Area because Legaspi questioned the validity of the clamping ordinance and the case is still pending before the Supreme Court.

The present fine for clamping is P500. But the vehicle will be released only if there are no more pending fines or penalties.

Effective today, Jakosalem also instructed speed police and mobile groups to be more visible in the streets.

He ordered Señor and Beltran to concentrate in their campaign those vehicles obstructing the flow of traffic by stopping in areas where stopping is prohibited.

"My purpose is that our traffic enforcers will be able to concentrate more on directional traffic assistance when needed, because we lack enforcers now. We hope to see an improvement in their visibility starting tomorrow," Jakosalem said.

Meanwhile, Jakosalem announced that CITOM had stopped granting huge discounts to vehicle owners who have accumulating penalties for traffic violations in the city.

Jakosalem said they started implementing the new policy since July 1 and it resulted to the increase in collections.

Jakosalem proudly announced that CITOM's overall revenue last June was only P4,002,250 but it increased to P4,983,682 in the following month.

"Most notable increase of collections are administrative penalty, P449,000 to P726,000; trisikad fines P117,000 to P231,000; impounding fees P88,000 to P218,000 and parking fees P2.6 million to P3.1 million," Jakosalem said.

Jakosalem said CITOM will no longer grant beyond 50 percent discounts to vehicle owners who have huge pending traffic violations with the Traffic Violations Bureau.

He added they are now strict in the granting of compromise payments to owners who have big pending fines who only allegedly discover them after the vehicles are impounded and always blame their drivers for not informing them, most are owners of passenger jeepneys.

Meanwhile, CITOM members next week are scheduled to discuss again the controversial release of a motorcycle driven by an errand boy of former Capitol consultant Byron Garcia even if the driver did not pay his fine for driving without a license.

Jakosalem said they tackled the matter during last Wednesday's meeting, but they decided to postpone the discussion because the report of then traffic police chief Andres Bayarcal was not complete.

Cebu City police director Patrocinio Comendador has promised to submit a comprehensive report about the matter during CITOM's next meeting.

City legal officer Joseph Bernaldez said the motorcycle driven by Felomino Rodriguez should not have been released by the traffic police authorities because the concerned person did not pay the corresponding fine.

Rodriguez was apprehended after he failed to present a driver's license when he was flagged down at a police checkpoint last Sunday night.

But the traffic policemen just released the motorcycle after Byron, the brother of Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, went to the traffic group and scolded the apprehending officers.

The police just allowed Rodriguez to claim his motorcycle on the assurance that he will come back to pay his violation, but he failed to do it the following day. - /BRP (THE FREEMAN)