Mandaue Council pushes for amnesty on storage fees of impounded cars

CEBU, Philippines — The Mandaue City Council has approved Monday on first reading an ordinance granting relief and/or amnesty to all declared owners of the impounded vehicles from payment of the accumulated storage fees.

This develops as the impounding area of the City of Mandaue reaches its full capacity, resulting in the latter to look for another government-owned property for its continued storage.

“The aggressive efforts of the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (TEAM) in trying to curtail unregistered and undocumented vehicles, accompanied with vehicles which remained unclaimed and abandoned over the passage of time, resulted in a full storage in the city’s impounding area,” read the proposed ordinance.

As a legal basis in granting such relief, City Councilor Jimmy Lumapas, the principal author of the proposed measure, cited Section 192 of Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991 which expressly provides that, "Local Government Units may, through Ordinances duly approved, grant tax exemptions, incentives or relief under such terms and conditions as they may deem necessary”.

“The City Government of Mandaue, in an effort to encourage payment for unpaid storage fees, and accelerate the TEAM's efficient collection, has decided to grant relief and/or amnesty to the declared owners of the impounded vehicles which remained unclaimed for the past three (3) years,” it said.

It added that the impounded vehicle shall have been enrolled and remained unclaimed at the impounding area from January 2020 to December 2022 as the basis of the payment of P1,000 only from the total accumulated storage fee of the impounded vehicle.

Provided, however, that the availment of this grant shall only be valid for three months after the enactment of this Ordinance, and which starting date and the last date of the three-month period shall be determined by the TEAM Office.

“Thereafter, there shall be no more grant of relief and/or amnesty to impounded vehicles which remain unpaid and unclaimed,” it added.

This proposed measure is still subject for a second and final reading that will be tackled in the next regular sessions of the members of the City Council. — (FREEMAN)