MMDA: No more towing of illegally parked cars

Starting today, August 31, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will no longer tow vehicles illegally parked on major thoroughfares and alternative routes. Instead, it will just slap a P500-fine on their owners.

In a bid to strengthen traffic enforcement to ease congestion in the metropolis, the MMDA said Thursday that it would begin issuing tickets to drivers of vehicles found parked on national roads and Mabuhay Lanes between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Towing these vehicles would no longer be done, according to MMDA General Manager Jojo Garcia, to avoid allegations of abuse and extortion.

On inner and municipal roads, however, illegally parked vehicles could still be towed but this would be carried out by local governments concerned or, should they ask for assistance, in coordination with the MMDA.

At the same time, Garcia said that under the no-towing policy, the “five-minute” rule—the grace period given to drivers to move their illegally parked cars before these could be towed—was now considered waived.

Ticket issued on the spot

“The apprehension will be automatic. Once our traffic enforcers flag an illegally parked vehicle, they would immediately issue a ticket,” Garcia said. In the case of unattended cars, the ticket would be left on the windshield.

The MMDA has yet to officially raise the penalty for the violation. Garcia said the agency had proposed to raise the P500 fine to up to P2,000.

The crackdown on illegally parked vehicles was the latest traffic-easing measure being imposed by the agency as a complement to its twin ban on provincial buses and drivers-only private vehicles on Edsa during rush hour.

Commuters earlier complained that the measures had merely resulted in vehicles transferring from Edsa to inner streets, where traffic flow was made worse by illegally parked vehicles and other obstructions.