The Metro Manila Development Authority said that it has apprehended at least 650 vehicles since it resumed this month the campaign against illegal parking along Mabuhay Lanes, the alternate routes designated for private vehicles avoiding congested main roads, especially along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue.
The MMDA resumed the crackdown by issuing citation tickets against erring motorists for illegal parking on the 17 listed Mabuhay Lanes or express routes connected to EDSA and roads going to commercial districts and shopping hubs in Metro Manila.
The campaign is aimed at easing traffic along EDSA during the holiday season.
Records released by the MMDA public information office showed that of the 650 vehicles, 57 were impounded while 593 were given citation tickets. It also showed that most of the vehicles were caught during weekends.
MMDA Task Force Special Operations chief Edison Nebrija Jr. has formed two groups—Task Force Alpha and Task Force Bravo—to clear the roads of any kinds of obstructions from 6 am to 9 pm.
Nebrija said the campaign is aimed to further ease traffic along EDSA and other major streets during the anticipated heavy traffic this Christmas season.
MMDA general manager Jose Arturo Garcia Jr. said traffic enforcers are instructed to issue citation ticket to vehicle owners. For unattended vehicles, tickets will be attached to their windshields.
“Motorists who do not have parking space have long been using major thoroughfares and the Mabuhay Lanes as their own parking area. This practice has to stop. This is the agency’s response to hard-headed vehicle owners who defy the MMDA’s illegal parking rules,” said Garcia.
Recently, the Metro Manila Council agreed to increase the fine for illegal parking in the metropolis. Fine for attended illegally-parked vehicles was raised from P200 to P1,000, while unattended illegally-parked vehicles increased from P300 to P2,000.