P66M in fines collected from traffic violators

Among the reasons for the huge collection of fines by CCTO personnel is illegal parking which carries a P2,000 – P5,000 fine.
CDN FILE PHOTO

There must be a lot of traffic violators in Cebu City, so much so that the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) collected at least P66 million in fines from January to August, 2018.

CCTO Operations Chief, Francis Ouano said they expect to collect approximately P100 million in traffic fines by the end of the year.

“There are definitely more and more violators per year,” said Ouano.

Ouano believes that the reason they were able to collect that much is because of the lack of discipline by the drivers.

In 2017, the CCTO collected P83,254,428.25 from January to December from motorists violating parking regulations and pedal-operated tricycles (trisikad).

This year, the fees were collected from impounded vehicles for illegal parking and for counter-flowing.

“We are disappointed by the increasing number of violators. As Mayor Osmeña said, ‘we don’t need your money, we need your discipline,’” Ouano said.

Ouano said that they will continue to apprehend violators on the streets to remind Cebuanos that traffic rules must be followed.

The fees collected in 2017 was P22M higher than in 2016 which came to P60,418,915.52

A total of 3,601 apprehensions were made in 2017, an increase by 2,308 from the previous year with only 1,293 apprehensions.

Of these apprehensions, 1,734 involved trisikad violators in 2017, or 477 higher than the previous year with only 1,257 apprehensions.

Parking violations are penalized with a fine of P2,000 to P5,000 or imprisonment of one to six months.

Impounded trisikads can only be redeemed after a period of 30 days and payment of a fine of at least P500 for non-registered trisikads.