THERE is a need to amend Cebu City’s parking ordinance and joint venture agreement (JVA) following the confusion in the implementation of parking regulations, as recommended by the Traffic Management Coordination Committee (TMCC).
Cebu City Transport Office (CCTO) deputy chief Kent Jongoy, in an interview with SunStar Cebu’s online news program “Beyond the Headlines” on Wednesday, June 19, 2024, shared the mishaps they faced in implementing pay parking policies in the city, undermining the operational days.
He explained there was an ordinance passed in 1986 stating the operational days, which is daily, and operational hours, which is 8 a.m. to 7p.m.
“Fast forward, during the time of former mayor Tomas Osmeña, there was an unincorporated JVA entered by the City Government with a private firm, called Tokagawa Global Corp. (TGC). Under the JVA, the operational hours will be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., but it does not speak of operational days,” he said.
He added, that, from their understanding, the policy should be implemented daily, including Saturdays and Sundays.
“In the legal and investigation section of the CCTO, we are suggesting that there should be an amendment putting into the JVA an addendum to the operational days to avoid confusing people,” said Jongoy in Cebuano.
He added, “Sa amoa na side (For our side), existing parking regulations in the city should be implemented in line with the implementation of the JVA.”
However, Jongoy stressed that, as stipulated in Section 16 of the Traffic Code, all “stopping, parking, loading and unloading” signage should always be upheld.
“Section 16 of our Traffic Code provides that if there’s signage regulating stopping, parking, loading, and unloading, it should always be upheld. Naa man tay signage (We have signage) Monday to Saturday, that’s what we are going to follow,” said Jongoy in a mix of Cebuano and English.
Jongoy said they are only waiting for the creation of an oversight committee so they can proceed with their plan for the revisions of the JVA to address what he described as a “gray area.”
He also said they would inform the public of the parking regulations and start with the inventory of signages and parking slots.