INnilItn6$BULLETIII
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House panel finallY okaYs
parking ?egulation measure
8y Btil R()SARI0
Finally, a bill proposing to regu-
late the charging of Parking fees
hurdled committee approval in the
House of Representatives which had
been unsuccessft{ in pursuing simi-
lar measures for two decades now.
The Committee on Tlade an!
Industry unanimously aPProved
the Parking Operations and Fees
Regulation Act as it rejected the
strong objections registered bY
mall owners, commercial establish-
ments and independent Parking
operators.
Similarbills hare been filedin the
Lower House but none Passed Ple-
nary and even committee aPProval.
Valenzuela Rep. Wes Gatchalian
appeared satisfred with the bright
prospect of having the bi! Passed
into law.
However, a check on the Provi-
sions of the approved bill indicated
that exorbitant parking fees will
be retained.by operators of street,
open space and covered Parking.
The committee-apProved bill
is a consolidation of 13 different
legislative proposals.
The bad experience of ACT CIS
Partylist Rep. Rowena Thduran in
a shopping mall parking in Quezon
City apparently contributed to the
swift passage of the measure.
Taduran fell victim to "basag
kotse" thieves who smashed the
window of her sports utility vehicle
(SU\D while it was parked in a Que-
zon City mall.
Months before Taduran lost
some ?200,000 in valuables to the
"basag kotse" gang, 1PACMAN
Partylist Reps. Michael Odylon L
Romero and Enrico Pineda filed
House Resolution No. 157 calling
the attention of Congress on "sev-
eral compldnts" tom motorists who
have been victimized by robbers and
carnappers while parked in business
establishments who eharge payment
of "exorbitant parking fees."
"There have been several re-
ports of carnapping, robberY and
simple mischief committed against
parked vehicles where establish-
ment owners and parking manage-
ment entities refuse to take liabil-
ity," said Romero and Pineda.
The two par$ist solons stressed
that the State has the "inherent duty"
to protect consumers ftom unneces-
sary. unreasonable and unjustilied
Paclc=, ' at'
exactions, tltus, a probe into carpark
operations was ProPosed.
Common among the bills filed is
the provision making it a duty of car-
park operators to secure vehicles and
Drovide protection to all c[ents.
' Undirthe bill, parking facilities
s for all types of vehicles including
bicycles, motorcyeles, and automo-
biles, will be covered.
Among the features in the bill
are:
Vehicles ofpatients and custom-
ers of malls and hospitals will be ex-
empted from parking fees operated
by the said establishments.
Free parking for shoPPing mall
customers will be limited to the 6rst
two hours, provided that the vehicle
owner will show proof of transaction
for a not less than F500.
However, non-Patrons will be
cha4ed F20 per houl which is higher
than the curent rates being imposed
by most malls and hospitals.
The bill also sets the minimum
standards that must be observed bY
all parking establishments including
the provision of CCTV cameras, secu-
rity guards, the number of entrance
andexitbooths to prevent traffic con-
gestion, and other safety standards.