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CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu lawyers on Tuesday met with Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to appeal for “privileges” that would unburden them from the Capitol’s new pay parking policy, which was implemented last Monday.
As constant visitors to the Capitol compound, where the Palace of Justice and the offices of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) are located, lawyers are among the most affected by the new parking policy, they said.
The governor did not agree to anything on Tuesday, but said she would consider granting parking privileges to lawyers engaged in IBP’s free legal aid program.
Other lawyers, she said, would have to abide by the pay parking policy to maintain impartiality.
The Capitol collected P53,565 last Monday from its pay parking policy. Part of the amount came from Capitol employees and others who regularly park in the grounds who paid P500 for a year’s parking privileges.
Some lawyers, however, criticized the governor for implementing the new policy in the first place.
“We thought that government is here to serve the people and its constituents. We never thought that Capitol officials will make money out of the Capitol grounds,” said lawyer Gines Abellana during their hour-long meeting with the governor.
“Where will the money go if not to the salaries of the officials?” he asked.
Garcia, visibly irked, said it was unfair for Abellana to accuse Capitol officials of money-making.
“You are a lawyer and what you’ve said manifest gross ignorance of the law. That manifests malice. If you want lessons on government, we can give you one,” the governor said.
The Capitol collects P10 from motorcycle users for the first two hours of parking and P5 for succeeding hours. Cars are charged P20 for the first two hours and P10 for succeeding hours, while buses are charged P40 for the first two hours and P20 for succeeding hours.
Garcia emphasized that the parking rate was set by the Capitol’s Economic Enterprise Council (EEC) and approved by the Provincial Board.
“It does not mean that just because the province is rich, we’re just going to sit around,” Garcia said. “We will continue to raise revenues to add to what we already have.”
She asked IBP officials at Tuesday’s meeting, which included Cebu City chapter directors Ronnie Gochan and Michelle Palmares, to “enlighten” their members about Capitol’s new policy.
Lawyer Elias Espinoza also earlier questioned the pay parking policy in his newspaper column last week. He cited that Garcia brags about Capitol’s “billions of pesos in surplus,” yet still burdens car owners.
He said a group of lawyers were contemplating of filing charges against Garcia and other Capitol officials.
But lawyer Bingo Gonzales, a member of IBP’s free legal aid program, had no plans to bring the Capitol to court regarding the pay parking policy.
Lawyers only wanted a dialogue to convince Capitol officials to “reconsider” its policy since free legal aid lawyers spend at least eight hours at the IBP offices, Gonzales said.
She proposed that free legal aid lawyers be allowed to avail of the yearly parking fee made available to Capitol employees.
Garcia said she wanted to speak to free legal aid lawyers in a separate meeting regarding their concerns.
