‘Entry first pay later’ law pushed in parking areas

By Jian Q. Garapo

BAGUIO CITY – To lessen traffic congestion, the city council’s committee on public utilities traffic and transport legislation chaired by councilor Benny Bomogao proposed a policy to hasten entry of cars in parking facilities.

                 Bomogao, main proponent of the proposal, said the current payment system which collects fees before letting vehicles park causes long queues of motor vehicles resulting to congestion in main roads.

                To address this problem, the committee proposed collection of parking fees only upon exit of a vehicle from the parking facility.

The ordinance stated this will apply to all pay parking facilities within Baguio City.

              Upon the approval of the ordinance, all establishments with parking spaces should observe park-first-pay-later policy three months from effectivity of the ordinance.

A fine of P5, 000 will be charged to a non-compliant owner or proprietor of the parking facility after the lapse of the compliance period. An additional fine of P1, 000 pesos will be added daily until full compliance.

The proposal said collection of fines will take effect provided that the parking facility's owner, proprietor, manager, or its offices or cashier has been furnished a copy of the approved ordinance by the authorized office in charge of traffic management.

The proposed ordinance was referred to the same committee for further review following its approval on first reading.