EDITORIAL - No to return of towing

The plan to reimplement the towing away of illegally-parked motor vehicles is a step backward for a city that has grand pretensions of being a civilized, highly sophisticated, and cosmopolitan metropolis. If carried out, it becomes no more than a hooligan state struggling to earn respect by force.

There are a million ways to address the problem of illegal parking without having to resort to the towing away of motor vehicles. The practice does not solve the problem but merely reduces it to a game of cat and mouse.

On the other hand, it may only serve to create more problems than it hopes to solve. There is no due process in the towing away of motor vehicles just because they are illegally parked. The implementor becomes prosecutor, judge and executioner.

Illegal parking is a minor traffic offense. Promptly towing away an illegally parked vehicle gives the owner no chance of explaining the offense. In the event that an emergency had been the cause of the offense, a far more serious problem occurs. What if that new and bigger problem is a life and death situation?

Mayor Michael Rama was reported as being keen on the plan to revive towing and was even quoted by a newspaper as having said he never wanted it removed in the first place. That is not exactly true. The mayor is not being forthright on the issue.

Years back, during his first term as mayor when the issue of illegal parking came up, Rama may be recalled as having batted for leniency. If we remember correctly, Rama said illegally parked vehicles can be tolerated for as long as they do not unduly cause traffic. What was that then, for pogi points?

Again, the city is not without other means to crack the whip on illegal parking without having to resort to towing, which by itself is patently illegal for lack of due process despite being backed by an ordinance.

If the city truly wants to address the problem, it is not without its bright boys who can put their heads together and make this city appear like the way it truly is -- the Queen City of the South, the second most important city in the Philippines, the second gateway to the world.

Towing is a knee-jerk approach. It is not unlike a hoodlum who, without thinking, just shoves away anybody who happens to block his path. This is not in defense of illegal parking. But if the city can just be consistent but fair in the implementation of its ordinances, there would be no need for acting like thugs.