ILLEGAL parking is still the most common traffic violation in Cebu City.
As of November 2018, the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) collected P90 million in various fees, fines and penalties.
CCTO operations head Francisco Ouano said their collection has ballooned in comparison to the P83.2 million they collected from January to December last year.
“We are just P10 million away from reaching our P100 million collection target for this year. Hopefully we can achieve that goal by the end of the year,” he said.
The bulk of the collections for both 2017 and 2018 is from fines for illegal parking and road obstruction.
Ouano said the most common excuse for illegal parking is the violator had to attend to an emergency.
The CCTO clamps illegally-parked vehicles 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Ouano said they clamp an average of 100 vehicles daily for illegal parking. Those caught pay a fine of P1,500.
Most of the clamped vehicles were parked on Colon St. and on roads surrounding hospitals.
With the holidays just around the corner, motorists are expected to rush in and out of the city.
But Ouano reminded them to always abide by traffic laws, especially with Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s proposal to increase traffic fines to P3,000 from P1,000.
“A lot of people say that the move is anti-poor, but for me it’s not, as long as you follow the rules. Traffic violators aggravate our traffic problem and no one is spared from this. Let’s just work together,” he said.
Ouano, though, does not think the increase in fines will help raise the CCTO’s income.
He is hopeful that the imposition of higher fines will instill discipline among motorists.
“We don’t need their money. What we need are disciplined, cooperative motorists. We don’t mind if our collection will decrease next year if this means fewer violators,” Ouano said. (RTF)