Probe sought into parking fee collection ‘anomalies’

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Traffic Management Coordination Committee (TMCC) has urged the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) and the City Attorney’s Office to investigate the alleged violations committed by Cebu Parking Management (CEPMA), particularly its collection of parking fees even during weekends.

This was contained in a resolution that the City’s traffic board approved during its meeting yesterday. CEPMA is owned and operated by Tokagawa Global Corporation (TGC).

The TMCC passed the resolution following Mayor Mike Rama’s instruction for City Hall consultant Rene Borromeo to have what he observed during the weekend discussed during the meeting.

Borromeo reported that CEPMA parking attendants were collecting parking fees beyond what was indicated in the City’s parking ordinance.

He said that while the street signages indicate that parking fee collection is just on Mondays to Fridays and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., CEPMA parking aides were observed to have issued parking tickets past 7 p.m. and even on Sundays.

The parking aides, he said, also collect parking fees even on streets that were not supposed to be pay parking zones, and allowed motorcycles to park in spaces meant for four-wheel vehicles, as observed in Leon Kilat, Borromeo and Dimas-alang streets.

“We instructed the CCTO operations to investigate and to submit a report to the Board not later than Monday next week so that we can make further action as ordered by the mayor,” Borromeo told The Freeman.

“We also asked the City Legal Office to study the legal aspect of those violations, collecting parking fees to vehicle owners on Sundays which are not allowed by the ordinance, and collecting fees beyond 7 pm, also the collection of parking fees in streets that are not included in the authorized parking slots,” he said.

Rama last week ordered the arrest of parking aides caught issuing parking tickets during weekends and beyond 7 p.m. on weekdays.

Borromeo said that his own investigation showed that TGC has 2,667 parking slots in the whole Cebu City.

He also discovered another anomaly, where the number of motorcycle parking slots reported to the City Government is under-reported, like in Sanciangko St. where it was claimed that there were only 65 slots.

“But pag-adto nako didto, nakaihap ko’g 167 na. Niundang na ko kay daghan pa gyud kaayo. Ako man nang gitan-aw ilang list sa ilang actual parking (slots). Dili gyud na mao,” he said.

The Commission on Audit (COA), in its December 2022 Annual Audit Report released last year, had flagged the 2018 Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) entered into by City Government, then led by mayor Tomas Osmeña, and TGC, for some deficiencies.

COA had said the JVA was non-compliant with certain parameters set forth under City Ordinance 2154 and was not an agreement to undertake an investment activity but merely a concession of governmental function involving the collection of charges to a private entity.

This was "contrary to Section 130 (c) of the Local Government Code (LGC) of 1991, which provides that the collection of local taxes, fees, charges, and other impositions shall in no case be left to any private person, no clear defined business objective and management role given to the City as well as on financial aspect that is unfair to the City."

COA had recommended the termination of the “unincorporated” JVA with TGC.

October last year, Rama already ordered the review of the JVA, noting that its manner in collecting parking fees is “prone to corruption.” — (FREEMAN)