Soon, drivers who leave their engines idling when they park in San Juan City will be slapped a fine of P1,000.
An ordinance filed and authored by Councilor Angelo Agcaoili has banned the idling of gasoline- or diesel-powered motor vehicles in the city for over three minutes.
Idling means the engine of a parked vehicle is running.
The San Juan City Council unanimously passed and approved on third and final reading on June 11 City Ordinance No. 55 or “An ordinance prohibiting the idling of a motor vehicle engine and providing penalties for violations thereof.”
Exempt, however, are police and fire vehicles, ambulances, military and armored vehicles and those being used in an emergency capacity and not for the convenience of the operator.
The ordinance also authorizes San Juan City schools to notify students’ parents about the implementation of the ordinance through letters and signs.
Malls and hospitals are also required to put up signs to inform their staff and patrons about the ban on the prolonged idling of parked motor vehicles.
Waste of fuel
In a statement, Agcaoili, the council’s majority floor leader, said that motor vehicle exhaust was one of the largest sources of air pollution in San Juan aside from contributing to fuel wastage.
Engine idling, he added, has a big effect on the health and well-being of people.
Agcaoili added that the ordinance was based on observations that the practice was common among vehicles parked in schools and malls… “without any regard whatsoever [for] the fumes and smoke [these] emit.”