MMDA to impose higher illegal parking fines by January 2019

It’s needless to say that you should learn how to park before you can drive. However, there are many drivers out there who aren’t really picky in the places they park in. Illegal parking violators have always been a headache for the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), but one that it has been working on ever since.

Well, it looks like the parking violators’ days are over as MMDA is imposing a higher set of fines for those who will be caught parking their cars illegally.

The new set of rates is as follows:

• Illegal parking for attended vehicles - P1,000 (from P200)
• Illegal parking for unattended vehicles - P2,000 (from P500)
• Obstructing the road - P1,000 (from P150)
• Yellow lane violation - P1,000

These new rates are signed and approved by the Metro Manila Council (MMC), the governing and policy-making body of the MMDA.

Of note, MMDA said that you can be apprehended for both illegal parking and road obstruction, twice a day, which means you can be fined by as much P6,000 in a single day. MMDA General Manager Jojo Garcia has reiterated that motorists are prohibited from parking their vehicles on all public roads, including the Mabuhay lanes, except in subdivisions and roads covered by existing parking ordinances. Those who park in front of their houses aren’t exempted, as well.

“Vehicle owners thought that they own the road in front of their houses. They have benefited long enough. It’s time for motorists and the government to utilize the thoroughfare,” Garcia said.

“This directive covers all public roads except in subdivisions and roads covered by existing parking ordinances,” he added.

The new illegal parking fines will be enforced starting January 7, 2019. It was originally announced that the new rates will start by the new year, but Garcia mentioned that there was a delay because they are “still fixing (our) ticketing collection system for traffic violations.”