Free mall parking pushed in Manila

Manila city councilors are pushing for an ordinance that will allow customers of commercial establishments, including shopping malls, to park their vehicles free of charge for up to 12 hours a day.

The draft of the proposed measure was published in major dailies on Wednesday and is up for deliberation in the council’s oversight and transportation committee. A public hearing on the matter was also conducted on Wednesday.

The measure, authored by Councilors Joel Chua, Ernesto Isip Jr. and Ernesto Dionisio Jr., requires all commercial establishments and malls to let their customers park free of charge for six hours.

If the customers reach an aggregate minimum purchase (with receipts) of P500 from the establishment, they will be entitled to six more hours of free parking. However, the free parking period should not exceed 12 hours in one day.

The councilors noted that charging parking fees had become a profitable “sideline” for malls and commercial establishments and argued that free parking should be part of the services they provide to customers.

As their rationale for the proposed ordinance, the authors invoked Section 16 of the Local Government Code of 1991 which mandates local government units to ensure and support the general welfare of its residents.

Violation of the ordinance will result in the cancellation of the establishment’s business permit or its nonrenewal, should there be an application pending in city hall.

But mall representatives invited to the hearing on Wednesday aired their opposition, Chua told the Inquirer in an interview.

“Their main concern was that the ordinance can be abused, that motorists will use their parking spaces even though they are not really customers of the establishment,” Chua said.

As a compromise, he said, he proposed an amendment to the ordinance: Instead of getting free parking for six hours automatically, motorists can only enjoy it if they present receipts with an accumulated value of P500.

“However, they later claimed that they need the parking charges for the car park’s maintenance. They seem to have other reasons for opposing our measure,” Chua said.

The hearing ended with the company representatives being asked to submit position papers on the measure, the councilor said.

“Free parking should be part of their services,” he stressed. “A P40 parking charge may still be a big deal for mall clients. We will listen to all parties affected by this ordinance but we hope to have it passed as a convenience for our constituents.”