MMDA, Metro mayors agree on stricter guidelines for towing companies

After several illegal towing companies were apprehended on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Metro Manila mayors have agreed to impose stricter guidelines on towing and impounding operations.

The issue was discussed during the Metro Manila Council (MMC) meeting presided by MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim at the MMDA Office in Makati City on Thursday.

The agency said the first step in addressing the problem is to create a master list of companies accredited by the MMDA and the local government units (LGUs) to provide towing services.

“This way, we can easily detect and monitor towing service operators both legal and illegal, those fly-by-night towing operators,” MMDA General Manager Jojo Garcia said during the meeting.

According to Garcia, it is difficult for the MMDA to apprehend illegal towing companies because they reason out that they are accredited by the LGUs.  And if the LGUs apprehend the trucks owned by these companies, they would say that they are accredited by the MMDA.

To counter this, Garcia proposes the creation of guidelines to ensure that the towing companies are authorized to operate legally.

“All unmarked towing service vehicles are definitely illegal,” he said.

On Tuesday, Arrom Towing Services and their trucks were suspended indefinitely for illegally impounding six motorcycles.  On Wednesday, the agency halted the operations of PMA Towing, a company which Makati City has already apprehended, according to Mayor Abi Binay.

READ: MMDA indefinitely suspends accreditation of towing company

Garcia said the MMDA is also looking to designate impounding sites in the northern, southern, western and eastern sectors of Metro Manila.

“We welcome this suggestion from our mayors because we really need more space to accommodate [the] increasing number of impounded vehicles,” he said. /ee