MANILA, Philippines — The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has taken back its earlier announcement that the increase on the penalty for illegal parking would start Wednesday, December 19.
While MMDA did not elaborate why they retracted their earlier announcement, MMDA General Manager Jojo Garcia said that the agency is still fixing its system.
“All these fines would be enforced on January 7, that’s the second Monday of January, pero hindi porke’t January 7 ‘yung pagtaas ng fine, hindi tayo manghuhuli. Tuloy-tuloy pa rin, pero discounted pa sila ngayon,” Garcia said in a press conference Wednesday.
“Anong reasons natin? Inaayos pa namin yung system namin sa collections; number two yung sa ticketing; and of course number 3, sabi nga ni Chairman, Christmas season ngayon,” he added.
Echoing the words of MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim, Garcia said that the traffic agency understand the sentiment of the public when it comes to expenses this holiday season.
Garcia then noted that traffic enforcers should fine violators using the previous amount for illegal parking if apprehended prior to January 7.
“Kung ang huli niyo ay January 6 and below, doon tayo sa dating fine; pero pagdating ng January 7, mataas na po ang fines natin,” he said.
In a regulation released by the MMDA, the fine for attended vehicles parked illegally is now up to P1,000 from only P200. The fine for unattended vehicle, meanwhile, has been raised to P2,000 from P500.
Motorists obstructing the road will now have to pay a fine worth P1,000 from only P150. /je
READ: Higher fines for illegal parking starting today—MMDA