ILLEGALLY parked vehicles in Minglanilla, Cebu may soon be towed following the approval of an ordinance in the southern town.
In its regular session last Dec. 11, the Municipal Council approved an ordinance declaring certain streets as tow-away zones.
The measure is an offshoot to past experiences of heavy vehicular traffic in the town, especially during holidays.
In 2017, heavy traffic lasted past midnight during the Christmas holidays along the town’s highway.
Rampant violation
“The increasing number of vehicles utilizing the streets of the (Municipality of) Minglanilla, illegal parking, standing or stopping on the said streets has become rampant which impedes the flow of traffic,” reads a portion of the measure.
Ordinance 28 also prohibits people from stopping, standing or parking a vehicle on barangay, municipal or provincial roads, as determined by the Minglanilla Traffic Commission (Mitcom).
The driver and/or owner of the vehicles found violating any provisions of the ordinance will be jointly held liable.
Anyone caught violating the ordinance will, upon conviction, be penalized with imprisonment of not more than six months, or face a fine not exceeding P5,000.
In April 2018, the council passed on third and final reading an ordinance that would allow traffic enforcers to clamp illegally parked vehicles.
Affected roads
A similar legislation declaring tow-away zones was also proposed last year.
Ordinance 14 suggested declaring 12 streets and thoroughfares as tow-away zones.
These are N. Bacalso Ave., provincial roads leading to Barangays Tulay and Vito, barangay access road from St. Cecilia’s College in Barangay Poblacion Ward 2 to the town sports complex, barangay access road from Dolor Mini Mart towards the Minglanilla Science High School in Barangay Poblacion Ward 1 and municipal roads leading to Sitio Tiber in Barangay Poblacion Ward 1, Sitio Lower Lipata in Barangay Linao-Lipata, Pakigne, Tungkil, Tubod, Calajoan, Tungkop and Tulay.
SunStar Cebu tried to reach Mitcom acting operations head Francis Sanguenza for an updated list of streets declared as tow-away zones, but he was not available as of press time. (S)