A lawmaker proposed to add parking spaces as a requirement when registering vehicles with the Land Transportation Office.
This proposed bill triggered different reactions from motorists on social media.
Some welcomed the long-awaited proposal to help solve the traffic congestion. Other Filipinos were skeptical about its implementation. Some Filipinos were critical of it.
Under House Bill 31, Rep. Lord Allan Velasco (Marinduque) seeks to require any individual who plans to purchase a motor vehicle to have a permanent parking space or garage first.
Velasco said that traffic congestion worsens when car owners park their vehicles on public roads, especially in metropolitan areas.
The bill will also require LTO officials to attest or verify the car owner’s parking spot claim first before granting the registration.
LTO personnel or officials who failed to verify the claim will be suspended for three months without pay.
Vehicle owners, meanwhile, will have their registration revoked, pay a P50,000 fine and be prohibited to register a vehicle for the next three years.
How Filipinos reacted online
Some Filipinos expressed support for the filing of this bill. They said that it’s about time to address the problem of parked cars along streets and other roads for commercial use.
“Should have done a long time ago…please do include also those cars parked along the road in subdivisions,” one Facebook user said.
“Tama. We should really have to decongest or clear the roads. No parking. No Car Policy,” another user said.
Other Filipinos pointed out that such measures had been proposed before. They expressed skepticism over how it will be implemented without corruption.
“Your solution is right but it adds bureaucracy which can be either ineffective or prone to corruption. Why not just outlaw parking on public roads and then provide pay parking in every barangay?” one Facebook user asked.
“It isn’t a problem with law – it’s about implementation. Common sense is that roads are used for driving and NOT parking. Magiging medium for corruption na naman sa LTO ‘yan,” another user said.
Some Filipinos, meanwhile, raised the public transport crisis anew as the reason why the public resorts to buying motor vehicles in the first place.
“If you fix public transportation, then people would not need as many cars and this will be unnecessary. They’re focusing on surface problems and not root causes,” one Facebook user said.
“Kaya lang naman napapabili ng sasakyan ang mga tao dahil walang kwenta ang public transpo,” another user called out.
Not the first one on parking spaces
Prior to this. Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian also filed a similar bill called the “Proof-of-Parking Space Act.”
Under this bill, individuals and business entities in Metro Manila are required to file an affidavit that they have acquired parking spaces before being allowed to purchase their vehicles.
In July 2019, Gatchalian asked former President Rodrigo Duterte to certify the passage of this bill as urgent following his State of the Nation Address that year.
“I hope President Duterte will certify this bill as urgent as it is very much aligned with his vision of alleviating the constant struggles of the commuting public,” the lawmaker was quoted in a report as saying.
