No Parking Space, No Car Bill is Filed, Here's What You Need to Know

A measure has been filed in the House of Representatives seeking to require car buyers in urban areas to have their own garage or parking space first before purchasing and registering their vehicle to help reduce congestion along roadsides and sidewalks.

Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco, who authored House Bill 31, said traffic congestion in many of the country's metropolitan areas is aggravated by car owners who tend to use public roads as parking space.

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"When roads become parking lots, there will be longer trip times and increased vehicle queueing," the former House Speaker said in the explanatory note of his bill.

"This bill seeks to require an adequate garage or parking space before the purchase of motor vehicles to be used in metropolitan areas to deter the proliferation of vehicles occupying the roadsides and sidewalks," he added.

Under the bill, prospective buyers with residence or business address in metropolitan areas such as, but not limited to, Metro Manila, Angeles, Bacolod, Baguio, Batangas, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Dagupan, Davao, Iloilo, Naga, and Olongapo are required to execute an affidavit signed by a notary public proving that they have an existing permanent or leased parking space where the vehicle they will purchase will be parked.

This affidavit will be presented to the Land Transportation Office as a prerequisite for registration.

"No motor vehicle may be legally conveyed in the absence of a public document duly attested to by the prospective buyer of a motor vehicle and acknowledged before a notary public, that a permanent parking space or facility already exists for the motor vehicle which is subject of the sale," the bill read.

Those who make false claims to comply with the requirement will have their motor vehicle license revoked and will be slapped with a fine of P50,000 for every violation of the said provisions.

Any LTO officer or employee who allowed the registration of the vehicle without the required document, or with knowledge of its falsity, will also be suspended from office for three months without pay.