MMDA hikes fines for illegal parking

Starting Jan. 7 next year, motorists will pay higher fines for illegal parking, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced yesterday.

The agency increased illegal parking penalties by over 500 percent to help address traffic jams in the metropolis caused by illegally parked vehicles, Celine Pialago, spokesperson for the MMDA, said.

Pialago said the penalty for attended illegal parking was increased to P1,000 from P200. Unattended illegal parking was raised to P2,000 from P500.

She said motorists who caused road obstruction maybe fined P1,000 or more than 500 percent higher than the previous P150 fine and another P150 for ignoring traffic signs.

Pialago said the new fines should have been implemented yesterday.

The MMDA received feedback that motorists were not aware of the steeper penalties and decided to postpone its implementation to Jan. 7, 2019.

The agency will also iron out procedures on how motorists can settle the fines, Pialago said.

She said violators may be issued traffic violation tickets up to twice a day, with a three-hour interval between issuances.

The MMDA can also issue a new ticket to an erring motorist every three hours if he fails to remove an illegally parked vehicle after being notified of the violation, according to Pialago.

Aside from increasing the fines for illegal parking, Pialago said the MMDA also raised the penalty for violators of the yellow lane policty from P500 to P1,000 for private vehicles and P300 for public utility vehicles.

MMDA general manager Jojo Garcia said the higher fines for illegal parking was approved by the Metro Manila Council on Dec. 7.

With the increased fines, Garcia expressed hope that the traffic woes in the metropolis would be resolved.