City Councilor Jun Alcover addressed the issue of unauthorized parking fee collection on Sundays by Cebu Parking Management (CEPMA) during a privileged speech on May 29. | Screengrab from Sangguniang Panglungsod Cebu City – Secretariat
CEBU CITY, Philippines – A Cebu City Councilor has called for investigation into the ‘unauthorized’ collection of parking fees here.
In a privilege speech on Wednesday, May 29, Councilor Jun Alcover Jr. mentioned of at least two complaints that reached his office on the alleged collection of parking fees by the Cebu Parking Management (CEPMA) on Sundays.
The first incident happened last March 13 while the second one happened on May 19.
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CEPMA is a private pay parking management firm that is owned and operated by Tokagawa Global Corporation (TGC). They have an existing joint venture agreement (JVA) with the city government on the operation of pay parking zones here.
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Pay Parking Zone
Based on City Ordinance 1293 that was passed in 1988, a fee of P20 is charged for the use of a designated pay parking zone for per hour or a fraction thereof.
Maximum parking duration is set for two hours while pay parking areas are allowed to operate from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Mondays to Saturdays.
The same ordinance also identified streets with pay parking zones.
In his speech, Alcover said that complaints were raised on the collection of parking fees by CEPMA even on Sundays.
Before he delivered his privilege speech, Alcover said that he already asked the Traffic Management Committee (TMC) and the City Legal Office (CLO) to look into the matter.
Critical oversight
Alcover said that there seems to be a “critical oversight” in the passage of C.O. 1293 because of the lack of supervision over the personnel who are responsible for managing pay parking areas.
He also expressed concern on their lack of accountability and the need to properly implement the existing ordinance.
In addition, Alcover asked TMC and CLO for updates on the outcome of their respective investigation.
“Mr. Chairman, unsa na may resulta sa [investigation] sa CCTO og sa City Legal Office? Si Mayor Rama kaniadto niingon nga dakpon ang mangolekta og parking fee og Domingo… Aduna bay recomendation, unsay gibuhat sa CEPMA?” Alcover said.
Controversy
He also asked what actions the city took against individuals found collecting pay parking fees on Sundays, which is a violation of the existing ordinance.
With many of his questions still unanswered, Alcovered moved for the conduct of an executive session with key stakeholders, including TMC, CLO and CEPMA.
Alcover expressed hope that the conduct of an executive session will shed light on the unauthorized collection of parking fees, particularly around Fuente Osmeña Rotunda in Cebu City.
Council members approved Alcover’s motion and agreed to hold the executive session on June 19.