In Quezon City, the largest city in Metro Manila, the Catholic Church is going up against the City Council to fight against establishment of pay parking and a parking authority.
Proposed Ordinance No. 2009-04, entitled “An Ordinance Establishing a Street Pay Parking In Places of Special Interest Within the Territorial Jurisdiction of Quezon City” proposes the implementation of pay parking areas, both on and off-street, and the establishment of a Quezon City Street Parking Authority, including a staff to administer the new program.
The ordinance defines “places of special interest” as places where people congregate, including schools, shopping malls, hospitals -- and churches.
Manila’s Catholic Church is supporting a citizen group, KLAPP-QC (Koalisyon Laban sa Pay Parking sa Quezon City), that has been formed to protest the ordinance.
“It is oppressive because it will be a burden to those who will be directly affected, who will pay parking fees for economic activities, which are largely unavoidable in their daily existence,” says Honesto Ongtioco, Bishop of Cubao.
The Bishop also says the proponents of the ordinance have not educated the public properly and they have not clarified who is exempt. This point may be important to the Church because a revised version of the ordinance allows each local government unit, called a “barangay”, to decide if churchgoers are exempt.
Following the Bishop’s lead, priests under the Diocese of Cubao have initiated a signature campaign against pay parking in Quezon City.
If the Church was focusing on the hardship placed on church members who are simply going to mass, it would be hard to argue the point. But it seems the Bishop is against the concept of citizen’s paying for parking while going about their daily “economic activities”. I have said before that someone has to pay for the parking, whether it be users, taxpayers or businesses. This makes me think of the sage advice: Render unto Caesar ...
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