These are some of the impounded motorcycles at the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue’s impounding area.| 📸: Mary Rose Sagarino
MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — Around 400 impounded vehicles are set to be auctioned off by the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (TEAM).
TEAM Assistant Department Head and Legal Division Chief Hyll Retuya said that there are over 1,000 vehicles impounded in the impounding area.
However, they were only able to segregate about 400 vehicles with complete documents that are still usable.
During the meeting of the Mandaue City Traffic Board on Tuesday, October 15, it was decided to coordinate with the Land Transportation Office and the Commission on Audit for the disposal of vehicles.
“Importante nga (coordinate sa COA) kay owned naman na sa city government (impounded vehicles) and together with the LTO kay naa may uban ana ang rehistro nagsige pa,” said Mayor Glenn Bercede, who headed the Traffic Board meeting.
“Para han-ay gyud ang guidelines kay kami naa nami guidelines, but we are presenting it to them, especially sa COA, kay ang mga legal issues ba, we are trying to prevent unprecedented cases mga ingun ana,” said Retuya.
The TEAM was flagged down by the COA because of the impounded vehicles.
“In fact, we also have to tap our internal audit sa city kay sila mismo sige sad sila og follow-up bahin ani because this will tantamount unta sa revenue sa which wala nato makita kay natanggong man sila diha unya gipaninglan ta sa COA, ‘asa naman inyo’ng kita, kay ngano’ng naay dakop unya walay revenue?'” said Retuya.
The auction is already long overdue, as the city council passed an ordinance regarding the matter in 2021.
A couple of ordinances were also passed granting amnesty to the owners of vehicles in hopes of decongesting the TEAM’s impounding area, but only a few were claimed.
The discount, which ranges from 30 percent to 50 percent depending on the year impounded, is only for the storage fee, and some fines and traffic violations still need to be paid.
Retuya said that disposing of vehicles is tedious due to all the requirements.