Bill requires car buyers to reveal proof of parking space

Requiring prospective vehicle owners to present proof that they have a parking space will help ease traffic congestion in the country, according to Senator Sherwin Gatchalian.

The senator said the Senate has started ironing out details of Senate Bill (SB) 201 or the Proof-of-Parking Space Act.

“If you buy cars, you have to make sure that you have a parking space for your own vehicle,” Gatchalian said during a recent public hearing of SB 201.

According to the Land Transportation Office (LTO), the number of registered motor vehicles from 2015 until 2017 had reached 10,410,814.

There are an estimated new 1,000 registrants each day, 600 of whom are owners of newly-purchased vehicles.

Gatchalian said the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship has formed a technical working group to study SB 201 “after the bill received full support from different civil society and government representatives.”

He added that the proposed measure, which he authored, is “quite relevant at this time, since this will instill a culture of responsible vehicle ownership among Filipinos.”

“The concept really here is responsibility when you buy vehicles. We are now putting the responsibility on the car owners,” Gatchalian said. Under SB 201, individuals and businesses based within Metro Manila would only be allowed to purchase vehicles after execution of an affidavit confirming that they have acquired, either through purchase or lease, a parking space for the vehicle sought to be purchased.