THE city governments of Cebu and Mandaue assured that they have adequate impounding areas for vehicles that they apprehended for illegal parking and obstruction.
This, as the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is calling upon local government units nationwide to provide impounding areas for vehicles they apprehended during their clearing operations.
Erwin Navales, Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) operations chief, said the City has two impounding areas: one on F. Ramos St. in uptown Cebu City and another at the South Road Properties (SRP).
Navales said the impounding area on F. Ramos St. can accommodate up to 300 units of two- and three-wheeled vehicles.
Four-wheeled vehicles and above will be impounded at a 1.5-hectare impounding area at the SRP, he added.
Navales said once there is no space left at their impounding area on F. Ramos St., half of the impounded units will be transferred to the SRP.
He admitted that with the barangay road clearing operations being rolled out, the impounding area on F. Ramos St. often gets easily occupied.
Navales said he has already asked the City’s General Services Office (GSO) for a vehicle to be used to transfer the impounded vehicles from their first impounding area to the SRP.
Like Cebu City, the Mandaue City government also has two established impounding areas. One is in Sitio Dungguan, Barangay Basak while the other is located at the back of the Mandaue City Cultural and Sports Complex at the North Reclamation Area.
Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes said if the two impounding areas reach their full capacity, they plan to use a local government unit (LGU)-owned property in Barangay Labogon as a possible impounding area.
Lawyer Ernesto Maringuran, who heads the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue, admitted that their impounding areas are almost at full capacity.
But Maringuran said the City is coming up with a proposed ordinance that will allow them to impound vehicles for a certain amount of time before they are subjected to disposal.
A DILG 7 official reminded LGUs in Cebu to provide adequate impounding spaces as a way to prevent further road obstruction in their areas.
“Because if they don’t, these impounded vehicles will just gather around local government offices, thus contributing to more obstruction,” said lawyer Ian Kenneth Lucero, DILG-Cebu City’s acting head.
Lucero, who also heads the DILG 7 Local Government Monitoring and Evaluation Division, said since this directive is included in the 75-day road clearing order, it is important that LGUs, especially those which don’t have an established impounding area yet, take action immediately as it may possibly be included in the validation indicator.
Lucero also asked LGUs to craft ordinances that would specify the guidelines on towing, impounding of, and releasing of impounded vehicles. / JJL, KFD, WBS