Manila roadside extort slammed

Irate motorists ask Mayor Isko to stop parking overcharging

All for naught? Motorists are complaining if Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso is aware of the presence of alleged parking personnel who overcharge in the city’s busy thoroughfares, spoiling his campaign against corruption? YUMMIE DINGDING

Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso was asked on Friday by irate motorists to order the Manila Police to arrest “street thugs” behind the brazen collection of exorbitant roadside parking fees by Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau (MTPB) “personnel.”

Complaints reaching the Daily Tribune showed that motorists are being overcharged P100 to P150 for every three hours of parking on city hall-designated street parking slots, like along Juan Luna Street in Binondo, Manila.

The issued MTPB parking tickets themselves showed that drivers of light vehicles like cars and private jeeps should only pay P20 for the first three hours and P15 for every hour thereafter.

For medium-sized vehicles like vans, three hours of parking should only cost P30 and P20 for every hour thereafter, while it’s P60 for three hours and P40 for every hour thereafter for heavy vehicles, like trucks and buses.

MTPB chief Dennis Viaje all but admitted the widespread practice of overcharging when he denied that the bureau had raised the minimum parking fee to P100.

In his “warning” written in Filipino, Viaje said MTPB “has not issued an order increasing the parking fee to P100 as of 3 September 2019, contrary to a document being distributed on the streets.”

“The said document is fake and MTPB has nothing to do with it,” he said in his notice.

One complaining motorist told the Daily Tribune that he was asked to pay P150 for three hours of parking Thursday morning near Binondo Church.

A man in white polo shirt bearing city hall markings issued the ticket through an errand boy under the authority of the City of Manila, Office of the Mayor, MTPB.

“Mayor Isko’s anti-corruption campaign will be for nothing if this roadside robbery continues,” said the motorist. “I was only forced to pay that much notwithstanding the rate printed in the ticket because I was afraid they’d damage my car when I leave it unattended.”

The same motorist in Binondo was charged an extra P100 instead of just P45 for exceeding by three hours the initial three hours of parking, for which he was already charged P150.

The P100 was collected by the man in a black jacket and a blue T-shirt similar to what MTPB personnel wear as uniform. He also had sunglasses on and signed the ticket with a dash.

The complainant provided this paper photos of the tickets replete with typographical and grammatical errors, raising the possibility that they are bogus. A photo of the MTPB “personnel” was also provided.

“In all, I paid P250 for six hours of parking. That’s more than what they charge in hotels. All the savings I had for buying stuff in Divisoria were negated,” he said.

In the roadside parking slots along Mendiola near Malacañang Palace, in front of San Beda and Centro Escolar University, a number of traffic parking attendants had been collecting P30 or P10 more from owners of light vehicles.

A number of the attendants also cordoned off slots and reserved the same for their “regular customers.”

Said a motorist confronting a traffic attendant, “Since when did you have reserved parking here?” Does Yorme (Mayor) know your shenanigans?”

Early in his term, Moreno had dismissed rogue traffic enforcers, including a number caught on video mulcting from motorists.