Brewing angst vs clamping, towing

THE PUBLIC “angst” against clamping and towing operations in Bacolod City is “brewing”.

People from all walks of life are nixing City Ordinance (CO) No. 1035 that introduced the Tow-Away Zones and gave birth to the clamping and towing by the third party Metro Towing Corporation (MTC).

The Bacolod Traffic Authority Office (BTAO) is getting “infamous” with this clamping and towing. More so with the “exorbitant penalties”. These are being labeled by many as a “costly” discipline-slash-traffic remedy.

In an outdoor concert of the famous Ben & Ben in Barangay Mandalagan, Bacolod City on Saturday, February 24, the city was put in a “bad light” again when 13 vehicles outside of the concert venue (nine single motorcycles, two tricycles and a private car) were reportedly impounded.

Over the weekend, BTAO was terribly criticized on social media. But its deputy head, Jose Antonio Robello, was quick to denounce the “public hate”, stressing that it was the Bacolod City Police Office’s (BCPO) Mobile Patrol Unit (MPU) that conducted the operations against colorum vehicles on Saturday midnight.

Explained by Robello, those impounded vehicles mostly have no official receipts or certificates of registration ( ORs/ CRs), or the drivers have no license(s) to present.

But Facebook went abuzz with the “unstoppable” netizens condemning BTAO and throwing distasteful accusations against the clamping and towing.

LAWYERS, MEDIA

Lawyers, journalists, call center agents, among others, became “victims” of clamping and towing.

One lawyer vowed to the bring the matter to the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas,

The penalties, said the lawyer, are “so excessive” not meant to impose discipline or remedy the “worst traffic condition” in the city.

For wheel clamping, the penalties are:

* Sedan Class – P600 * Medium-Sized – P800 * Heavy-type – P1,000

For towing fees ( per first four kilometers)

* Two- to three-wheeled vehicle – P1,000

* Light vehicle – P1,500

* Medium vehicle – P2,000 * Heavy vehicle – P4,500 Then, on top of these towing rates, BTAO and Metro Towing will charge another P200 per exceeding kilometer travelled up to the impounding area.

And if the “erring” drivers can’t claim/ redeem his/ her vehicle on that day of impounding, he/she will be charged of another P200/day for the first and second month, P350/ day for the third and fourth month and P500/day for the fifth and sixth month.

Again, on top of the clamping and towing penalties, the impounded vehicle owners should also pay for the other violations they’ve committed.

‘STUPIDITY’

This is total “stupidity” in the strongest terms, claimed the lawyer.

Worse, the city, said the lawyer, is just earning “sensilyo” on this because only 25 percent of the clamping and towing fees goes to the city’s coffer.

Mayor Albee Benitez, in a press conference on Monday, February 26, vowed to assess/audit the situation, but didn’t give an exact date when it’ll gonna happen.

If people really don’t like, the mayor said, they’ll scrap CO No. 1035.

But if it’s working to ease the worsening traffic condition in Bacolod, it’ll be continued regardless of the opposition, he said.

The mayor also stressed he doesn’t care if it’ll become a political issue in Bacolod for the upcoming mid- term elections. For as long as it’s a solution to the traffic congestion, then, it’ll go on.

PRINCIPLE OF FAIRNESS

When Mayor Albee promised “change” in Bacolod, he did not say or mean “it’ll be harsh”.

Of course, he did it in the “sweetest way” as his political branding in wooing Bacolodnons in the 2022 elections.

Yes, there’s a maxim of Roman civil law called “Dura Lex Sed Lex” which means “However, regrettable the outcome of the legal decision may be, the law must be proclaimed and enforced.”

But that was before; not nowadays.

City officials must ponder upon that the principle of fairness must always prevail in crafting any statute via a resolution or city ordinance.

They must create local laws which are not arbitrary in nature. Each law must (always) be passed for a reason – often a very good reason, locally!

Better if they can establish a “Do No Harm” chart before finalizing or passing a certain local ordinance.

Because it’s “no good to note” that people are “crying” behind the implementation of a certain statute.

Ancient Greek philosopher Plato once stressed, “Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.”

Question: Who is good or bad in the implementation of CO No. 1035?/