City increases parking fees

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Council yesterday approved on final deliberation the proposed ordinance increasing from P15 to P20 the parking fee per hour.

Councilor Richard “Ritchie” Osmeña, chairman of the City Council’s Committee on Traffic Management, proposed the increase for the City Traffic Operations Management (CITOM) to earn more and to discourage motorists from parking their vehicles along the road for a longer period of time.

When the legislative measure was presented to a public hearing before the City Council, nobody showed up to oppose it.

After the City Council approved the measure yesterday, it will be sent to Mayor Michael Rama for signature and will be published in the newspaper to inform the public.

In 2010, CITOM had collected P33.2 million from parking fees and a similar amount last year, but the figure may go up this year when the new parking fee rates will be implemented, probably in March.

Councilor Augustus Pe Jr, the co-proponent of the measure, believes that some of the motorists may no longer park their vehicles for long at designated parking areas to avoid huge fees. 

When CITOM executive officer Rafael Christopher Yap was asked by the City Council during the budget hearing on how CITOM could help raise funds for its P188.9 million proposed budget, he cited the income from parking fees.

Several roadsides in Cebu City have been converted as vehicle parking areas for fees and these are managed by CITOM.

The city legislators explained that they are just doing what is good for the city because if they will not declare the roadsides as designated parking areas for fees, these would still be used for parking by vehicle owners.

Local government units are empowered under Republic Act 7160 to regulate the use of roads within their territories. — (FREEMAN)