CEBU - Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he prefers hiring the services of private towing firms to buying city’s own towing vehicles to help the City Traffic Operations Management in getting rid of the illegally parked vehicles.
The mayor explained that he is already fed up of the long bureaucratic process that every time the city-owned vehicles break down, the purchase of the needed spare parts will last up to several weeks or months.
“Mao na nga dunay ubang driver nga tuyoon g’yod sa paguba ang ilang mga sakyanan aron nga wala sila’y trabaho pero sigi ang sweldo,” Osmeña said.
Osmeña was surprised when The FREEMAN informed him that towing of illegally parked vehicles has become a lucrative business for some private towing companies because it cold earn them close to P1 million a month.
The income of the Road Warriors Towing Services for the nine months period from November 2007 to July this year had already reached over P8 million, but this did not convince Osmeña to buy towing vehicles for the city’s use so all the towing fees will go to the city’s coffers.
Citom executive officer Arnel Tancinco said Osmeña had already gave them the go signal to hire the services of One Stop Towing Services to tow illegally parked vehicles in the city’s roads.
“Amo pang himoan og inspection ang mga equipment sa One Stop Towing Services,” Tancinco said, adding private towing companies are required to have at least two towing equipment for cars and motorcycles before they are allowed to operate.
Osmeña yesterday summoned to his office Tancinco and Councilor Sylvan “Jack” Jakosalem, chairman of the City Council’s committee on transportation, where they discussed the issue of reducing the towing fees for the motorcycles.
Jakosalem said the Citom Board members have agreed to recommend to the City Council the proposal to reduce towing fees of motorcycles from P1,500 to only P500 in response to the public complaints that the existing towing fee is too expensive.
The mayor had advised the Citom board to get first the comments of the private towing companies before making any decision on the matter.
Connie Cañedo of the Road Warriors Towing Services said reducing the towing fees might be disadvantageous to the city’s campaign to discourage illegal parking of vehicles, particularly motorcycles on sidewalks and pedestrian lanes.
Osmeña said personnel manning the towing vehicles should not call the attention of the owners before they tow their vehicles to warn them that if they park their vehicles in areas not designated for parking their units face the risk of being towed and impounded. — Rene U. Borromeo/WAB (THE FREEMAN)