BACOLOD City – This city has collected more than P230,000 in three weeks of implementing the amended City Ordinance (CO) No. 1035 that established tow-away zones in various streets here.
Since Executive Assistant Patrick Lacson, officer-in-charge of the Bacolod Traffic Authority Office (BTAO), assumed the post on Nov. 1 until Nov. 20, the office has amassed P234,700 for towing illegally parked vehicles and another P189,450 for other traffic violations.
Lacson clarified that only a portion will go to the city’s revenue.
Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez signed on Nov. 3 a memorandum of agreement with a private firm for its towing services.
Under the agreement, Metro Towing Services has the legal authority to tow and impound the vehicles clamped by the BTAO.
Based on the given tariff, the firm will have a 75 percent share of every vehicle towed by the city.
But the payment of fees is still under the city government’s jurisdiction, the mayor said.
The clamping fee ranges from P600 to P1,000, while the towing fee ranges from P1,000 to P4,500 for the first four kilometers, depending on the type of vehicle.
The impounding fee is P200 per day in the first and second months, P350 per day in the third and fourth months, and P500 per day in the fifth and sixth months.
The designated impounding area is at the old Coca-Cola plant building between 15th and 16th Lacson Streets, where the BTAO headquarters is temporarily based.
Under CO No. 1035, the tow-away zones include the loading and unloading zones for public utility vehicles within six meters or any intersection or curved lane, in front of all authorized public and private driveways, on designated bicycle lanes, and within four meters of driveways or entrances to any fire station and hospital.
Others are within four meters of fire hydrants, on pedestrian crosswalks, sidewalks, paths, and alleys not intended for parking, and on any bridge and at the foot of any bridge.
Fixed signages with red marks have been placed in designated strictly no-parking zones, while yellow signals regulate parking hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Lacson, meanwhile, asked for understanding from the public.
“We are now in the adjustment period, so we cannot avoid some criticism,” he explained. “The ordinance was approved in 2016, but it was just implemented recently, so this is a challenge to us, especially to the traffic enforcers.” (With a report from PNA)/PN
